Very Successful Weekend-On and Off Field for Gee-Gees - women

[Al's Fastball News]

Received: 10/3/06 8:06:39 AM 
From:  Scott Searle <scottsearle(at)rogers.com> 
 

Subject:  Successful Weekend-On and Off-Field for Gee-Gees  


Ottawa, ON


Very Successful Weekend-On and Off Field for Gee-Gees 
A very successful weekend, on and off the field for the Gee-Gees
in Ottawa.

When the University of Ottawa Softball Gee-Gees listed their
goals for the 2006 season, some might be surprised to see “giving
back to the community” as a priority. For university athletes
who are already juggling part-time jobs, full-time school, family
commitments, and personal lives, to look outside to see what
else needs to be done is impressive indeed. The team took a big
step toward achieving this goal on the weekend with a pair of
efforts to support their local community.

The team is split roughly equally between athletes who have grown
up in the Ottawa area and those that have moved here for University.
One of the biggest surprises for those new to the city is the
number of military personnel in the downtown area. Ottawa is
host to the Headquarters of the Department of National Defence
and home to 20,000 Canadian troops. This makes the current Canadian
engagement very real to our city as nearly everyone in Ottawa
has a friend or family member in the military or knows someone
who is currently serving overseas. Recently citizens in Ottawa
have been encouraged to wear red on Fridays as a symbol of support
for Canadian Soldiers and the athletes from both the University
of Ottawa and Carleton University showed great leadership in
this initiative by dedicating their game last Friday to Canadian
troops and donning special red uniforms for the game. They were
thrilled to welcome Colonel Claude Rochette to the game who highlighted
the importance of the Afghanistan mission to fans and athletes
alike. The team was also very proud to see their efforts recognized
by Parliamentary Secretary for National Defence during a congratulatory
Statement by Member in the House of Commons Friday afternoon.

The Gee-Gees extended their commitment to the softball community
Saturday morning as they led a “Bridge to the Future Clinic”
for 25 minor athletes from the Ottawa area. They led sessions
in pitching, catching, outfield and hitting for 2 hours before
preparing for their games against Brock University.

UOttawa 9 Carleton 0
The Garnet and Grey was back in the groove between the lines
as well with a 3-0 weekend to bring their record to 7-4. They
rose to the occasion on Friday night with a 9-0 victory over
cross-town rival Carleton University. Elissa Sivel was dominant
in the win with 9 strikeouts over 5 innings, allowing 3 hits
and no walks. Vanessa Homiak ignited the offence with 3 singles
driving in 4 runs and Erin Durant put on a show for her grandfather,
a WW2 veteran who was in the crowd to throw the first pitch,
with a 3-3 effort. Lindsey McLaughlin put the finishing touch
on the victory with a massive 3-Run homerun in the 4th inning.

UOttawa 4 Brock 2
The team moved to Alexander Grove Park in Stittsville for Saturday
morning and put their training into practice in front of a full
crowd filled with athletes the team had taught in the morning.
The first 5 innings were marked by excellent Gee-Gee at bats
foiled by equally strong efforts by Brock defensive players.
Hard line drives and ground balls seemed to find every Badger
glove on the field as the team fell behind 2-0. Their luck changed
in the bottom of the 6th as Sam Pantalone, Lindsey McLaughlin,
Sarah Thompson, and Nicole Dunlop ignited the scoring to go ahead
4-2. Ashley Sands took the win for the team as she was very strong
in keeping the Badgers off balance and out of the scorebook.

UOttawa 10 Brock 1
The Gee-Gees carried their momentum into game two behind a strong
performance from Jillian Taylor as they exploded for 10 runs
in 5 innings for a 10-1 win. Elissa Sivel and Allie Rutherford
displayed their versatility at the top of the order to go along
with their strong defence as they always seemed to be on base
and scoring runs. Jen Alexander, who is looking more at home
in the Garnet and Grey every day contributed 3 clutch hits for
RBI’s and had an excellent day at the plate. Carol Piche twirled
a double play on her own, and threw in a single in a very strong
effort from the rookie infielder. Lindsey McLaughlin stayed hot
with a pair of doubles driving in 3 runs in front of a large
home-town crowd.

The crowd thinned Sunday morning as the rain would not stop in
Ottawa and forced the cancellation of both games against McMaster.
The team travels to Waterloo next weekend to face the University
of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier.  

From:  Scott Searle <scottsearle(at)rogers.com> 


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