Al Doran notes:
Today is Championship Sunday in St. Thomas Ontario!
Three games left with Jarvis playing Newfoundland and the winner playing St. Thomas and then the winner moving on to play Kitchener in the final at 3pm.
Fantastic day out so if your within driving distance of St Thomas, scoot on over and take in the championship game at 3pm.
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From Diamond Dirt Editor, John Thompson:
Click here to view Issue Number 8 for the Sr. Canadians (PDF)
Other “Diamond Dirt” news at Fastpitchwest.
Text version of this issue after the jump.
NEWFS TIGHT “D†WINS TWICE –
MEDAL MARCH IN MORNING
Riding on the shirt-tails of Newfoundland’s gold medal at the Softball Canada Junior Nationals last month in Owen Sound ON, Canada’s youngest province is within a single win of capturing a medal at the Senior Nationals. St. John’s NL Kelly’s Pub Canadians won twice yesterday, parlaying four runs into a pair of wins, qualifying for Sunday’s “final fourâ€, and eliminating neighboring Maritimers Charlottetown PEI and Brookfield NS. P Darryl Tilley handcuffed Fawcetts, scattering five hits and striking out 11. Fellow P Sean Cleary completed the sweep dulling the Elks horns with a tidy one-hitter, and striking out 15. Sunday’s objective – break-up the perceived Ontario “Medal Cartel†and bring Gold/Silver or Bronze back to “The Rockâ€. The “medal mission†starts at 10 am when Kelly’s Pub meets the Jarvis First Ontario Gamblers – should be a dandy!
A huge thanks and tip of the ball cap to the following who assisted in the production and co-ordination o the daily editions of Diamond Dirt:
Scott McGillivray & Deb Lachance at Scott’s Printing; Dan Dennis, Tammy Ford, Tim Stover
& Chris Wismer for the stats and website; Bob Churchill for the sponsorships
RESULTS – Sat. Sept. 5 Harrah’s Mildmay Picks
(Record to date (24-11)
W VANCOUVER Grey Sox 5R 8H 0E
Glace Bay Mets 0R 3H 1E
WP Gerald Muizelaar (1-0) 13K;
LP – Greg Garrity (0-1) 4K;
LF Calem Gardner 2×3; RF Tyson Barkman 2×3
L St. John’s NL Kelly’s Pub 2R 6H 0E CHARLOTTETOWN Fawcetts 1R 5H 1E
The teams traded 1st inning runs and St. John’s scored the winning run in B3 in an exciting afternoon tilt.
WP – Darrell Tilley (2-2) 11K; 3B Mark Lewis 2×2; OF Brad Ezekiel 1×2
LP – Ward Gosse (1-1) 3K with relief from Frank Cox, 7K; C Kelly Wenstrom 1×2, rbi
W JARVIS Gamblers 4R 8H 1E
Vancouver Grey Sox 3R 8H 2E (8 innings)
Jarvis spotted Vancouver a 3-1 early lead, but chipped away, eventually tying the game in B7. Int tie-breaker runner Bill Simmons’ gazelle-like speed plated the winning run in B8 on a head-long slide that had fans buzzing.
WP Paul Koert (3-2 in relief of Rob O’Brien), 5K; 1B Pat Graham 3×3, rbi; OF Jeff Ellsworth 2×4, rbi
LP – Gerald Muizelaar (1-1 in relief of Nick Underhill) 2K; DH Doug Allin 2×2; C Craig Horswell 2×4; LF Calem Gardner 2×5
L BROOKFIELD Elks 0R 1H 1E
St John’s Kelly’s Pub 2R 7H 1E
WP – Sean Cleary (2-2) 15K;
LP – Cory Avery (2-1) 6K; St. John’s scored the only run needed in T1 and added an insurance marker in T7, to ride P Sean Cleary’s one hitter to shut-out Brookfield, and eliminate the Elks. The young, speedy and aggressive Newfs gave notice that in qualifying for Sunday’s final four, they may be long-shots, but should not be taken lightly. CF Brad Ezekiel continued his torrid week, with a 2×3 outing, driving in both runs, while SS Justin Gill was 2×4
W- KITCHENER Twins 8R XH XE
St. Thomas Centennials 1R XH Xe
WP – Dean Holoien (1-1) 11K
LP – Sean Whitten (3-1) 4K in 1.7 innings
Rivershark Twins struck early (5 in B2) and often (3 in B3). 3B Craig Crawfiord 2×2 with 2 rbis; OF Steve Mullaley 2×3; RF Rino Dambrosio 1×2 and 2B Jody Eidt 1×2, each with 2 rbis. Cens’ Tex Lessard 1×2
R.R. FINAL STANDINGS
TEAM W L
Playoff Double Life
Kitchener Hallman Rivershark Twins 5 2
St. Thomas Evergreen Centennials 5 2
Brookfield NS Elks 5 2
Jarvis First Ontario Gamblers 4 3
Playoff Single Life
Vancouver BC Grey Sox 4 3
St. Johns NL Kelly’s Pub Canadians 3 4
Charlottetown PEI Fawcetts 2 5
Glace Bay NS Mets 0 7
HARRAH’S MILDMAY
PICKS FOR Sun. Sept. 6
(Record to date (24-11)
10:00 am – Jarvis Gamblers
vs ST. JOHN’S KELLY’S PUB
12:30 pm – ST. THOMAS EVERGREEN CENTENNIALS
vs Winner 10 am (Jarvis or St. John’s)
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
3:00 pm – KITCHENER HALLMAN RIVERSHARK TWINS
vs Winner 12:30
AROUND THE PARK
A reliable source asks fans to guess which American League baseball player once sold 50/50 tickets at a few major fastball tournaments in the US and Canada – answer at end of this column….What a great atmosphere through eight days of sunshine (okay, a smittering of rain last Sunday) as Tournament leaders Bill Horne and Tom Edie, complemented by a team of 200+ volunteers, successfully hosted a third Canadian National Championship in the last eleven seasons. Smiles abounded everywhere, and fans were treated to awesome Elgin County hospitality. Well done St. Thomas!….Adding to the atmosphere was Bruce Smith and his piano accordion – “Take me out to the Ball Game†– encouraged bleacher and beer tent karaoke. Diversity of song selections was evident with the strains of Queen’s “We Will Rock Youâ€â€¦ good touch Bruce – come and join Walter Ostanek Oktoberfest style for the 2011 ISCs in Kitchener….. Just who contacted the weatherman? Anyone taking credit for the perfect fastball weather conditions is welcome on future hosting committees…… Speaking of 50/50 ticket sellers, don’t forget to check your pockets and purses for two unclaimed 50/50 draws – Draw #2 – 00822 and Draw #4 – #01564……
ANSWER – The 2006 American League batting champion, as a youngster helped to sell 50/50 tickets with his father George at several ISC tourneys in 1990s… Justin Morneau, a native of New Westminster, BC, no longer needs to sell 50/50 tickets, or win a 50/50 draw as his MLB salary for 2009 is a cool $11,600,000.
BASEBALL QUOTES
“Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don’t move.” Satchel Paige
“The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided.” Casey Stengel
“If you don’t win, you’re going to be fired. If you do win, you’ve only put off the day you’re going to be fired.” Leo Durocher
DAY 8 – Sunday Standings
(Original rankings & odds to win)
Still in Contention
— (1) Kitchener, ON 3:2
— (2) St. Thomas, ON 3:1
— (3) Jarvis, ON 4:1
— (6) St. John’s, NL 10:1
Eliminated & Final Standings
5. (7) Brookfield, NS Elks 12:1
6. (5) Vancouver, BC Grey Sox 7:1
7. (4) Charlottetown, PEI Fawcetts 6:1
8. (8) Glace Bay NS Mets 15:1
50/50 – Saturday Sept. 5
Draw 12 – #09115 – $300+ –
Paul & Mary Ann Baier
Draw #13 – #08624 – $1,265 Cher Rose
CFL Tix – #0991 – #11036
Marjorie Rimnyak, Aylmer
Randy Hamilton – St. Thomas
Unclaimed
Sunday Draw #2 – #00822 – $559
Monday Draw #4 – #01564 – $337
DIAMOND DIRT GEMS
This week’s “Unofficial†DD awards…
*Best Dressed team – Brookfield NS Elks – only missing stirrups to be perfect!
*Pleasant surprise team – St. John’s NL Kelly’s Pub – team of the future
*Fountain of Youth Award – All-Star C Kelly Wenstrom, Charlottetown – batted .400 and helped lead Fawcetts
*Get down and dirty award (on the bases & defensively) -Nick Dambrosio, St. Thomas, closely followed by Kitchener’s Rino Dambrosio (Coincidence?)
*Comeback Games of the Week – Jarvis twice – trailing 3-1 in 7th inning rallies to beat Charlottetown 5-4 and next night, behind 3-0 early and 6-4 in B9, scores 3 against Vancouver to win 7-6
*Comeback “Falls Short†Game of the Week – trailing 7-1 vs Brookfield, Jarvis ties the game at 7, but loses 8-7
*Best Played Game of the Week –
Kitchener 2 Jarvis 1 (9 innings) – the essence of a tightly-contested, defence-dominated game that relied on fundamentals as Kitchener rallies from 1-0 deficit to maintain “double-lifeâ€.
Solo Performance Gems
Ryan Wolfe, Kitchener – HR, 2 triples, W – 3 runs vs St. Thomas; Cory Avery, Brookfield – 2 HR, 5 rbis vs. Jarvis;
Jeff Ellsworth, Jarvis – Grand Slam vs. St. John’s;
Derek Mayson, Vancouver – steals home, hits HR and pitches 2 hitter with 8Ks in 2-0-shutout vs. Kitchener