It was Opening Day at the ISC II Tournament of Champions and there were several outstanding ball games marking the close level of competition between all of the teams at the ToC. The opening pitches were thrown out by Jonathan Baker and Tom Clancy following the introduction of the teams, officials and host committee.
A-1/Taylor Farms’ Dave Drotzman had the highlight of the day, tossing a no-hitter against Linwood 86ers in a 2-0 victory for the California team which is making its debut in ISC II. The two runs of support are two more than Drotzman received all of last year.
The top-ranked Niagara Snappers needed extra innings to knock off the Harriston Mercury’s 2-1. With both teams scoring a run each in the first inning, Corey Costello and Scott Smith took over and kept the offences at bay. Costello finished with 16 strikeouts while Smith sat down 14 Snappers in a row at one point. The Snappers loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, scoring a run on a sac fly by Trevor Falk and Costello was able to close the door on the Mercury’s in the bottom of the 8th to seal the win.
Tavistock opened their championship defence with a nervous 5-4 win over Kitchener Outlaws. The Merchants jumped out to a 5-1 lead and starter Ryan Cummings managed to shut down a furious Outlaw rally in the sixth before Steve Cook came on for the save in the 7th.
The host Bridgeport Braves took on the California Lumberkings in a rematch of last year’s Opening Ceremony game. Things looked good for the Braves as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Jodie Schnarr’s lead-off home run, but the new and improved Lumberkings took a 2-1 lead in the second inning only to have Jay Schnarr score the tying run in the 4th. The Lumberkings took the lead for good in the 5th as 21-year-old Kevin Castillo drilled an RBI single and held on for the 3-2 win.
Jason Giffen and the Wyevale Tribe showed that their victory at the Innerkip qualifier was no fluke as prevailed in a pitcher’s duel with veteran Dave “Farmer” Martin of the Jarvis Rock. Giffen spun a one-hitter for a 2-0 win.
The Ashland Merchants, playing for their manager Roger Hershey who is at home recovering from a stroke, rode the right arm of Jeff Van Hooser to a convincing 4-0 victory over Ottawa Team Easton Thunder.
Alvinston Indians, winners of the recent Ontario Intermediate Eliminations, overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat Cutro Professional Inspections 4-3 … Other impressive wins came from Port Elgin Blue Devils, Keating’s Fitness and T.N.T. as they each pounded out mercy wins … Hamilton Hawks managed a split on the day, beating Carp I4C Victory 5-3 and dropping a close 3-2 decision to PA Power … Carp was named the winner of the inaugural ISC II Best Dressed Team Award for their black jersey’s trimmed in silver and white.
Scores
Wyevale 2 Jarvis 0
Hamilton 5 Carp 3
Castro Valley 2 Linwood 0 – Dave Drotzman no hitter
Bucktown 2 Kitchener 1
Ashland 4 Ottawa 0
Keating’s 11 Quyon 2
TNT 14 Ottawa Valley 0
Alvinston 4 CPI 3
Niagara 2 Harriston 1 – 8 innings
Rise 10 Rockwood 1
Glencoe 5 Mitchell 4
PA Power 3 Hamilton 2
California 3 Bridgeport 2
Kingston 8 Ingersoll 0
Blackburn 1 Jarvis 0 – 8 innings
Shakespeare 3 Quyon 2
Port Elgin 9 Hickson 0
Tavistock 5 Kitchener 4
Wednesday Broadcasts on www.ballparkradio.com
10:30 AM
Oswego, NY Cutro Professional Inspections vs Wilkes-Barre, PA Keating’s Fitness
12:30 PM
Waterdown, ON Hammer vs Port Elgin, ON Blue Devils
2:30 PM
Ephrata, PA PA Power vs Carp, ON I4C Victory Consulting
4:30 PM
Palermo, ON Athletics vs South Lebanon, PA T.N.T.
6:30 PM
Moraviantown, ON Bucktown Bees vs Castro Valley, CA A-1/Taylor Farms
8:30 PM
Harriston, ON Mercury’s vs Wyevale, ON Tribe