[Alsfastball] Union Storm wins Ontario Title

[Al Doran]

From: "Chris Wismer" <wizkid at sympatico.ca>
To: "Al Doran" <fastball at pmihrm.com>
Subject: Union Storm wins Ontario Title
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 16:27:31 -0400



        Storm win Ontario championships

 From the St. Thomas Times Journal (Tues. Aug. 3rd)

OWEN SOUND, Ont. ­ They lived their dream.

The Union Storm are heading to the Canadian Senior Men’s fastball 
championships as the Ontario champions.
Troy Rick delivered the tournament-winning hit to score Chris Wismer, 
giving the Storm a 2-1 win over the Waterloo Hallman in Game 2 of the 
Ontario Amateur Softball Association senior men’s final Sunday.

Tournament MVP pitcher Trevor Wardell went the distance for his third win. 
The fireballer allowed only two runs in 23 innings, making the Storm the 
first Elgin County team to win the provincial title in at least 15 years.

Now the team from the St. Thomas and District Fastball League will head to 
St. Croix, Nova Scotia, for the Canadians beginning A ug.29.

“It’s great. The whole plan has come together,” Storm shortstop Chris 
Wismer said. “We had one tournament win in our team’s history and now this 
year we have won three tournaments and probably the biggest tournament in 
our life. It all fell in to place.”
The goal to qualify for the national event started back in February when 
the Storm planned on playing in a few senior international tournaments to 
help prepare the team for provincial opponents. The Storm were aiming for a 
top-three placing to qualify.
At the Ontario championship, Union won three consecutive games to advance 
to the final of the double knockout tournament.
But in the final the Hallman flexed their muscle for a 8-0 win, forcing a 
second final game.

“We came out flat and we made a couple errors,” Wismer said. “I think too 
they were on a roll from their game before that they had won in extra 
innings and we had a long lay off (over eight hours).”

Waterloo’s Paul Koert was the winning pitcher while Union’s Dan Beecroft 
took the loss. Stepping in to stop the Hallman in their tracks was Wardell 
who beat them twice in the tournament.

“It was one chance to win all the marbles,” Wismer said. “We knew we were 
just flat the game before and we thought we better get back into it and 
remember how we got there.”

Waterloo struck first with Dale Levy driving in a run in the top of the 
fifth inning with a triple. A RBI single by Wismer tied the game in the sixth.

Wismer led off the home half of ninth inning with a swinging bunt and 
advanced to second base on a throwing error to first. Cory Winkworth moved 
Wismer to third base with a sacrifice bunt setting the stage for Rick. He 
delivered on a 0-2 pitch up the middle for the win.

Although Wardell was likely the centrepiece, winning the championship was a 
group effort from the offensive side.
“Tyler (Lessard) had five or six hits, but no one really tore the cover off 
the ball,” said Wismer. “Every game it was someone else. The first two 
games we hit the ball really well. Then it was timely hitting. Everyone had 
one or two.”

Lessard went 4-for-4 and Mark Coleman smacked a home run in a 9-3 win over 
Bracebridge. Pitcher Andy Jackson took the win.
Wardell picked up his first win by shutting out Palermo 6-0.
In the first meeting with the Hallman, a fifth inning home run by Ron White 
put the Storm down 1-0.
Lessard, who by self admission has said he has not been hitting well in 
league play, had his biggest hit of the tournament, a two-run double in the 
sixth inning that held up to be the difference in a 2-1 win.

Wardell won his second game and Koert suffered the loss.
“A full team effort,” Wismer said. “Everyone contributed.”

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