[Alsfastball] University of Ottawa Softball-OIWFA Championships

[Al Doran]

From: "Scott Searle" <Scottsearle at rogers.com>
To: "Al Doran" <fastball at pmihrm.com>
Subject: University of Ottawa Softball-OIWFA Championships
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 09:46:30 -0400


Ottawa, ON

The Gee Gees tried to defend their title at home over the weekend. Their 
first game was scheduled against Brock, a very strong team who finished the 
regular season in third place. Erica Chan took the ball for the Gee Gees 
and with Jen Blakely behind the plate kept the Badgers to only two runs 
through 4 innings. Offensively the team had a good outing against Rebecca 
Cunningham. A walk from Jen Jeppard and a triple from Shannon Lundrigan 
cashed the first run in the 2nd. Another triple from Nicole Dunlop brought 
Pam Hrick to the plate who drove her in with a solid single in the 4th. 
Sarah Thompson who had a hot weekend at the plate led off the 5th inning 
with a triple which allowed Nicky Dunlop to pick up an RBI with a single. 
Going into the 7th inning the team had a 3-2 lead but several errors and 
misplayed balls allowed Brock to score 3 runs and steal a 5-3 win.

The Gee Gee's next game was against the Guelph Gryphons, the eventual OIWFA 
Champions. This was a rematch of last years OIWFA Championship game where 
the Gee Gees came out victorious. This was a very exciting game for the 
team to play in front of about 500 local fans who came out to support the 
team. The Gee Gees responded to the support with a quick 4 runs in the 
first inning. It was the same old story at the top of the order as Danna 
Masters reached on a slap, Sarah Thompson moved her over with a bunt, back 
to back walks from Nicky Dunlop and Pam Hrick set up a 2 RBI double from 
Lindsey McLaughlin. Alison Hibbet also drove in a pair of runs with a 
double of her own. This looked to be a quick game. Lindsey Hutton took the 
ball for the Gee Gees and was very strong although again defensive problems 
allowed too many Gryphons to reach base and forced the Gee Gees to be 
constantly working out of jams. The Gryphons responded with a pair of runs 
in the first inning. Lindsey Hutton stayed sharp through 5 innings, keeping 
the Guelph hitters off balance and off base. Ashley Sands, who is getting 
very comfortable in her closing role came in for the last 7 outs of the 
game. Guelph pushed across one more run on a fielders choice in the 6th. A 
good game for the Gee Gees in front of a great crowd as they held on for a 
4-3 victory. The Gee Gees were the only team to beat Guelph this weekend.

As they entered their final game against MacMaster they were in a position 
where 3 teams could be tied at 2-1 so run differential could be at play. 
They knew they would have to score at least 7 runs to qualify for the 
Championship Round on Sunday. Lindsey Hutton took the ball again for the 
Gee Gees and was absolutely magnificent through 5 innings allowing only 1 
hit. Lindsey was throwing to her favourite target, Sarah Thompson who added 
her first career homerun and a double to the offensive effort. This tandem 
does not bode well for other teams in the league as they will be Gee Gee's 
for 3 years to come. The whole team played well in this game, exploding for 
12 runs. Jen Leppard added a pair of RBI doubles. Jessica Prot drove in a 
run with a single in the 3rd inning. Kerry Ground was back to her old 
tricks with fantastic defense at first base and an RBI single that drove in 
2 runs in the second inning. Pam Hrick hit her stride with a 3-3 outing 
with a pair of singles and an RBI. Danna Masters revealed just how special 
an athlete she is, hitting from the right side and adding two triples, and 
Nicky Dunlop ripped a triple in the 4th inning. All round an excellent 
effort on both sides of the ball put the Gee Gees in the top spot going 
into the playoff round.

The team would face Windsor in the morning who lost a heartbreaker the 
night before to Western. Windsor was the second seed from the A division, 
in the two teams only matchup this year Ottawa took the win in a sloppy 8-6 
affair in London. A difficult game for the Gee Gees as they could not seem 
to hit their stride. Erica Chan took the ball in her final start in the 
Garnett and Grey and was solid through 3 innings. Defensively the team had 
one of their biggest struggles of the season with 7 errors in 5 innings. 
The team battled through many of them keeping Windsor off the scoreboard 
through 2 innings but the Lancers scored 3 unearned runs in the third 
inning. The Gee Gees tried to answer in their half of the third, pushing 
across one run with Jen Blakely scoring on a Danna Masters single. Back to 
back hits from Sarah Thompson and Nicky Dunlop loaded the bases with Pam 
Hrick and Lindsey McLaughlin due up. Pam lined out to the third baseman and 
Lindsey missed a homerun down the left field line by 6 inches on a ball 
that landed just foul. The next pitch she hit a rocket to the third baseman 
and Windsor was out of the inning. Softball is a game of inches and those 6 
inches in left field gave Windsor all the momentum they needed. They scored 
2 more runs in the 4th, and 3 more in the 5th to take an 8-1 win after 5 
innings. The last 4 runs were scored off Ashley Sands but were unearned. A 
very difficult way to end their championship hopes.

The bronze medal game was against Western who lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to 
Guelph in their Semi-Final. A heartbroken Gee Gee's squad emptied their 
bench trying to get a spark but it was not to be. Western's Jenn Lukas 
threw a great game limiting the team to only one hit over 7 innings. The 
Gee Gee's used all 3 of their aces in the game, and 2 catchers who all 
worked well over the 7 innings. Western scored 4 runs on only 4 hits to 
take a 4-0 win and the bronze medal. The Gee Gees would like to 
congratulate Western, Windsor, and Guelph the 2004 Ontario Champions.

A tough way to go out for 7 Gee Gees who played their last game in the 
Garnett and Grey. Jen Blakely who was the teams captain this year has 
always provided leadership, solid defense, and clutch hitting from behind 
the plate. Erica Chan who was the teams ace through her first two seasons 
has always been extremely effective in keeping teams off balance and she is 
a fantastic teammate. Kerry Ground has been the person every Gee Gee team 
wants at bat with a runner on base as she always seems to drive in the 
important runs, on top of that her fantastic defense at first base saves 
all the infielders errors and keeps the team in games. Kerry's personality 
has also been crucial to the teams success as she can always make her 
teammates laugh and get them to focus. Most teams in the OIWFA might only 
recognize Danna Master's back, she has been the teams leadoff batter for 
all 3 years now and is without a doubt the fastest runner I have ever seen. 
She can dominate games with her speed and base stealing ability and any 
ball hit to left field is automatic with her out there. Those 4 girls have 
been with the team since the word go in their first year of University and 
participated in countless fundraising activities in order to ensure we 
could get off the ground first year. Sad goodbyes were also in order for 
Jen Leppard who is continuting with her degree in medicine. Jen has been 
with the team the past two years, is another clutch hitter, and adds strong 
leadership to all of the players. A converted infielder, Jen has turned 
into a fantastic outfielder and again any ball hit to center field is 
automatic with her. She is smooth as silk defensively and a great hitter. 
Jessica Prot joined the team in first year after transferring from Seneca 
College. She has been one of my favourite players to watch as everything 
seems so effortless. She was a key player in the teams Championship season 
last year and continued that effort this year playing sharp defense and 
adding key hits. Also leaving is Nicole Dunlop who has played both 
positions in the middle infield for the team, second base in the 
Championship season, and short stop this year. Nicky was the teams 
offensive leader this year, every rally the team had Nicky was at the 
center of it with a key RBI. She is another player whose leadership helped 
the team through tough moments. We will certainly miss her. We will miss 
all of these 7 girls who made the past 4 years so special. Thank you girls.

Also leaving the team are coaches Genevieve Walkden and Brian Robertson. 
Job commitments have forced them to move back to Toronto where they will no 
doubt stay involved in the sport. Their effort for 4 years has helped to 
mold the success the team has had. Genevieve, along with Rachel Macmillan 
were the teams founders and put countless hours (at the expense of their 
studies!!) into seeing its success. Genevieve has left her mark on all of 
the Gee Gee teams whose strength have been strong outfields and speed. I 
wonder where that comes from?! Genevieve has taught Danna Masters and Erin 
Durant her slap from the left side and will leave that as her legacy at 
Ottawa U. Brian has been equally effective, putting an unbelievable amount 
of time into the team. He was largely responsible for the teams success in 
becoming a "competitive club" which entitles them to increased funding and 
the Gee Gee moniker. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you on behalf 
of the whole team, and any player who has gone through the system to both 
Brian and Genevieve for all of their efforts. You will be sorely missed.

With all of these departures it would be easy to be sad but a quick glance 
towards next year should restore a smile on the face of any Gee Gee fan. 
Donna Price, who is one of the best coaches in Ottawa and a former catcher, 
Dave Tubman, who plays for the Kemptville Thunder and has participated in 
back to back ISC World Tournaments, and Gil Read who was Canada's Team 
Leader in Athens will join Scott Searle on the coaching staff. We have 8 
players returning for another run at the OIWFA Championship. A very strong 
pitching staff will stay that way with Lindsey Hutton and Ashley Sands. 
Behind the plate the Gee Gees have Sarah Thompson and Allison Hibbett, 
through the middle they have clutch hitters Shannon Lundrigan and Pam 
Hrick. At first base and outfield the teams most versatile defensive player 
and one of the biggest threats offensively will return in Lindsey 
McLaughlin and Erin Durant who will continue to play outfield and pick up 
where she left off offensively. A very strong group returning is enough to 
excite everyone in Ottawa. Next season starts today for the team as they 
begin to fundraise and train to prepare to make the long trip to Guelph 
next season to become the 2005 OIWFA Champions.



Scott Searle

From: "Scott Searle" <Scottsearle at rogers.com>



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