Elmira wins thriller

[fastball]

Elmira wins thriller
TOUCHING BASE: Elmira wins Innerkip tournament

By Bruce Urquhart - STAFF WRITER
Monday July 10, 2006

INNERKIP - The true test of any successful fastball tournament
is the calibre of teams it can attract over the two or three
days on the diamond.
Regardless of beer sales and 50-50 draws, a tournament can’t
be considered a winner unless it garners a few of the province’s
more high-profile teams. The 2006 Innerkip Eagles Intermediate
Fastball Tournament, while not the season’s biggest, definitely
passed this admittedly narrow test, attracting some stellar teams
to the three-day event.
Sunday’s championship game was a perfect case in point.
With the Elmira Cubs, the defending ISC II champions, facing
the Toronto Champion Indians, the reigning Ontario Challenge
Cup champions, the fans were already expecting an exciting game.
Still, the pitchers’ duel that ensued – an eight-inning marathon
that was decided by a single run – easily exceeded these expectations.
The Cubs eventually emerged as the victors, turning an Adam River
triple and a wild pitch into a 1-0 win. Steve Ketchell, the Toronto
reliever, had been throwing strikes since taking the mound midway
through the sixth, but then made the one mistake, hurling the
ball about one metre above the batter’s head. With catcher Mark
French digging for the ball, River decided to gamble and was
rewarded when he beat the tag. It was the first run Ketchell
had surrendered in three games.
“We were talking about that (wild pitch),” Elmira starter Casey
Halstead said. “That’s just the way the game of fastball goes.”
With this one noted exception, the pitching in this championship
was flawless. Between Halstead and the two Toronto hurlers, there
were only 11 hits scattered through the extra-inning game. Halstead
was definitely had his stuff in the complete-game victory, fanning
seven Toronto batters to earn the shutout. 
“The nerves do get a little shaky,” Halstead admitted, “but you’ve
got to bear down and throw the ball like you can.”
The Elmira pitcher was definitely getting to the Toronto batters.
After having one of the more potent offences during the tournament’s
preliminary and playoff games, the Indians were growing frustrated
with their lack of production in the championship.
“The guy throws them hard down,” said Toronto’s Jamie Murchison
after striking out in the fourth. “That’s what I want.”
Halstead, though, shared credit for the victory with his fielders,
saying the team’s defence was the main reason the Cubs finished
with the trophy. During the sixth and seventh innings, when the
Indians eked out a couple of hits, the Elmira defence did buckle
down and get the outs, stopping the Toronto club from really
getting started.
“”You’ve got to give a lot of respect to the defence,” Halstead
said.
Of course, the same kudos for pitching and defence could be offered
to the Indians. Ketchell and Tom Berube, the Toronto starter,
were solid through their combined eight innings, keeping Elmira
stalled until that ill-fated eighth. Berube struck out five during
his five-plus innings of work, allowing the usually dangerous
Cubs only four hits. Ketchell, despite the one pitch, was just
as impressive. With two Elmira runners on base after an error
by third baseman Cyril Nibbs, Ketchell struck out two straight
batters to end the inning and get his team out of trouble. The
Toronto reliever finished with a total of five strikeouts while
only allowing a single hit.
“Our pitching staff and defence were just great all weekend,”
Toronto coach Carl Dusome said. “We made that one error at third
base in the final, but that was it.
“It was like that throughout the entire tournament.”
Both the Cubs and the Indians were impressed with the calibre
of teams at the Innerkip tournament, which, Dusome said, was
the entire point for making the trip. With the provincial tournament
less than a month away, the Toronto coach said his team wanted
some real competition “right at our level.”
“The competition here was excellent,” Dusome said. “We lost 1-0
in extra innings to Elmira, the No. 1 ranked team, and that showed
us where we stood.”
While the local teams didn’t fare as well, there wasn’t too much
disappointment. Woodstock Kelsey’s might not have defended their
championship, but like the Indians, they still managed to get
in some quality games before the provincials.
“This is possibly the strongest this tournament has ever been,”
Woodstock catcher Darin Kitching said. “It was good to come out
and see some strong pitching.”
Woodstock did manage to make it through to the semifinals but
couldn’t get the bats working against Toronto. While Kelsey’s
enjoyed solid pitching from Steven Running and Mike Pullin, they
couldn’t manage a run in the eventual 2-0 loss.
“I think we played pretty well,” Kitching said. “I’m not at all
disappointed with the way we played, and we lost to strong team.”
The Innerkip Orioles also made the playoffs in the tournament
but lost 6-5 in a tight quarter-final with Woodstock, their Oxford
County rivals. The Orioles will have a chance at revenge on Wednesday
when they host Woodstock in Tri-County league play. The Hickson
Reds, the third Oxford club, managed one win in the round robin
but didn’t get to play on Sunday. In fact, every one of the eight
teams in the tournament did manage at least one win, which was
further proof of the calibre of club that Innerkip attracted.
“There was some good ball here,” agreed Eagles manager Jeff Whetstone.
“There were no complaints at all.”


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