[Alsfastball] University of Ottawa Gee Gee's ( Women)

[Al Doran]

From: "Scott Searle" <Scottsearle at rogers.com>
To: "Al Doran" <fastball at pmihrm.com>
Subject: University of Ottawa Gee Gee's ( Women)
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 14:23:54 -0400


A solid weekend for the Gee Gee's as they accomplished their first goal of 
the season, nailing down the first playoff spot in the Eastern Division. 
History has proven over the past 3 years that anyone can win the OIWFA 
Championship so with their win over Queens the team was very happy to play 
host to one less team Oct. 22-24 in Ottawa.

The team started slow Saturday morning in their game against Western, rain 
and cold weather led to an error filled game by both teams. 
Uncharacteristic errors by the Gee Gee defense and a wet ball allowed 
Western to score 6 runs in the 4th inning. Lindsey Hutton pitched well, but 
suffered from the errors and the sloppy field in taking the loss. The 
offense could not get going, and was held to only one run by Western 
started Jen Lukas who pitched very well. A tough way to start the weekend, 
especially for me who now has to suffer another year of teasing from my dad 
who is an overly proud Western graduate. Hopefully we will see them again 
in the Championships!

The second game of the day was against the cross-town rivals from Carleton. 
Erica Chan took the ball and was sharp through 5 innings holding the Ravens 
to 5 hits and two runs. The Gee Gee offense found its way right off the bat 
as Danna Masters reached base with a slap before being driven in by a 
double off the bat of Nicky Dunlop. The team kept rolling as back to back 
singles from Jessica Prot and Jen Leppard drove in the second run of the 
game. This game had a distinctly local flavour for everyone from the Ottawa 
region as Jen Blakely and Jessica Prot were playing against their former 
coaches in Nepean. Both players put on a show as Jessica played her usual 
stellar defense and added a key single while Jen Blakely went 2-3 with a 
triple, an RBI and a run scored. She also remains a calming influence on 
the team from behind the plate and has not allowed a baserunner to steal on 
her this year. The team from Ottawa seemed to have left their luck at home 
as the whole team was hitting the ball hard but they only managed to 
scratch out two more runs. In the home half of the 5th inning Jen Leppard, 
playing in front of friends and relatives in London ripped another single 
to set up another RBI for Shannon Lundrigan who had an excellent weekend 
defensively at second base. That ended the scoring for the Gee Gee's save 
for a birthday homerun by Danna Masters from the left side. Danna once 
again showed off her athleticism from both sides of the plate to go along 
with another strong weekend with the glove. Another strong game from the 
Gee Gee's but defensive lapses and strong clutch hitting from the Ravens 
gave them 4 runs in the 7th inning to steal a 6-5 come from behind win.

The sun came out and the chocolate came out for the third game against 
Queens in a divisional rematch in a game that Ottawa had lost the week 
before. The Golden Gaels ran into a frustrated Gee Gee team that wanted to 
get back to form. Kingston native, Ashley Sands took the ball and was 
stellar for 6 innings keeping Queens hitters off balance with her vast 
repotire of pitches. Every time a batter seemed to guess what she would 
throw she reached into her bag of tricks and came out with something 
different. She was helped by a fantastic game behind the plate by Allison 
Hibbett as the pair held Queens to 4 hits and 1 run over 6 innings. The 
offense kicked into high gear as they exploded for 8 runs. Everyone 
contributed to the scoring in a true team effort. Erin Durant was trouble 
at the top of the order all day between Danna Masters and Sarah Thompson 
with bunts and slaps keeping the opposition off balance. Those 3 hitters at 
the top of the order will cause problems for any pitcher. Allison Hibbett 
had another strong day at the plate with 2 hits and an RBI. Nicky Dunlop 
stayed hot with a 3-4 day and a pair of singles. Kerry Ground provided her 
usual excellent defense at first base, saving the infielders several errors 
with stretches at the corner. A very good way to end the day as the team 
rolled to an 8-1 victory in a game that was stopped after 6 innings.

The team drew the early morning game again on Sunday morning against a very 
strong team from Windsor. After a very unorthodox warm up that saw all 3 
coaches dodging balls in centerfield the team jumped to a quick 3-0 lead in 
the first inning. It was the same story at the top of the order with Danna 
Masters and Erin Durant reaching on bunts, Sarah Thompson moved the runners 
over and Nicky Dunlop picked up two RBI's with a clutch double. The team 
was not done as Jen Leppard ripped a massive triple over the outfields 
head. A London native, Jen had a very good weekend both offensively and 
defensively in front of her home town, with all of her hits seemingly 
coming just when the team needed them. The bats went silent until the 7th 
inning as the scrappy team from Windsor took a 4-3 lead. Erica Chan had 
another strong game in the circle staying ahead in the count and keeping 
hitters off balance. Jen Blakely had her best game of the weekend behind 
the plate working with Erica and starting a game winning rally in the 7th 
inning, with a walk and great baserunning. She was moved into scoring 
position by another bunt single by Danna Masters and a clutch sacrife bunt 
by Erin Durant. A clutch single up the middle by Sarah Thompson but the Gee 
Gee's in the lead for good but the scoring was not done yet. Another single 
by Nicky Dunlop, followed by a long double by Jen Leppard drove in two more 
runs. Shannon Lundrigan capped off a great weekend with a massive triple to 
drive in the last run as the team took a commanding 8-4 lead. Windsor would 
not give up however and managed to push across two runs in their half of 
the 7th inning but it would not be enough as the Gee Gee's took the win 8-6.

The last game of the weekend was the teams best game of the year against 
Waterloo, a team who had the Gee Gee's number in 2003. Two losses against 
the Warriors made them the only team in the OIWFA that the team had yet to 
beat. Lindsey Hutton took the ball and was dazzling through 6 innings 
allowing only two hits and 1 run. The Waterloo pitcher kept up the pace 
though and held the Gee Gees scoreless through 5 innings. The whole team 
was hitting the ball hard and continued to show great hustle by running out 
every ball, which has remained a trademark of the team so the coaching 
staff was confident the runs would come. In their half of the 6th inning 
Nicky Dunlop who had another great weekend drove in Allison Hibbett for the 
teams first run of the game. That brought up Lindsey McLaughlin playing in 
her first game of the weekend, coming off a serious Laser Quest injury who 
ripped a monster shot off the wall in left field. Only the fact that these 
games were being played on slowpitch diamonds kept this ball in the park. 
Another single by Kerry Ground drove in Lindsey for the teams 3rd run. A 
walk and a pair of singles was all the offense Waterloo would get in the 
5th inning of Lindsey who was again helped by great pitch selection from 
Allison Hibbett. Ashley Sands, who is thriving as a Gee Gee came in to get 
the last 6 outs and allowed only one hit. Ashley has repeatedly revealed 
her versatility in both starting games, and also being a lights out closer. 
The pitching staff was close to perfect in this game which bodes well for 
future years and should be a cause of concern for the rest of the OIWFA.

A strong weekend from the Gee Gee's as they improved to a 9-4 record which 
is good for second place in the OIWFA. After taking Thanksgiving off they 
will play in front of a home crowd for the first time on October 6th at the 
Manotick Arena against Queens and Carleton. For more information on the 
team please visit the website at 
<http://www.eteamz.com/ottawaufastpitch>www.eteamz.com/ottawaufastpitch



Media Inquiries please contact

Scott Searle

613-837-0787



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