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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, September 19, 2019
Volume 35 No. 37
SPORTS - Pg. 11
‘The Citizen’ celebrates
summer sports teams
FESTIVAL - Pg. 31
‘Bed and Breakfast’ rounds
out Blyth Festival season
CHAMPIONS - Pg. 8
Curling team to raise
banner in Wingham
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0
INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
Tigers come up just short of Challenge Cup title
Knights, Otters raise thousands for foundation
After a successful year in the
Huron County Fastball League, the
Brussels Tigers nearly captured the
International Softball Congress
(ISC) Canada East Qualifier -
Ontario Challenge Cup over the
weekend.
Fourteen teams took part in the
tournament, hosted by Hickson over
the weekend, including teams from
Tavistock, Shakespeare, Kitchener,
Hamilton and Dundalk.
While action was set to start
Friday night, as Tigers representative
Shawn Daw explains, inclement
weather stopped the first day of
action in its tracks.
“Games were postponed on Friday
and pushed to Satuday morning,” he
told The Citizen.
The Tigers tore through the
competition, earning a berth in the
finals against Innerkip. They came
up just short, losing in the finals by a
score of 14-9.
Daw explained that the final, the
fifth game of the weekend for the
Tigers, was a tough one for the
squad.
“We ran into the hot bats of
Innerkip when they scored two in the
first inning and four in the second to
take a commanding 6-0 lead at the
end of the second,” he said.
The Tigers were able to rally,
eventually taking the lead 8-7, but
Innerkip was able to tie the game at
nine runs apiece before going on to
post the 14-9 win.
Daw said the tournament was a
“great moral victory” for the team.
“Seeing this calibre of ball was a
great learning experience for the
team as a whole,” he said.
“Competing and winning this much
at such a tournament was an eye-
opener for many that have thought
we were in over our heads.”
Daw said the team played
extremely well and that the Tigers’
pitching kept the squad in striking
distance for most games, letting the
bats seal the wins.
“With some hiccups along the
road, the team showed great depth...
to come back from a deficit in four
out of the five games played [over
the] weekend,” Daw said. “It was a
great tournament and season.”
Daw said the team saw significant
support from friends, families and
fans travelled to the tournament to
support the squad, as well as support
from Paul Sebastian, who coached
the squad.
He also said that Darren Scholl
and Doug (DJ) Stevens from the
Goderich Grizzlies, who joined the
Tigers for the tournament, were an
asset to the squad.
The Tigers started out strong with
an 8-4 win over the hometown
Hickson Astros.
“We had a rocky start and fell to a
3-1 deficit early in the game,” Daw
said. “The boys kept battling and had
the score 4-3 for Hickson up till the
fifth inning. Then in the bottom
of sixth the bats came alive, driving
in five runs and completing the
win.”
Following that, Brussels edged out
the Victoria Harbour Dodgers 3-2.
Daw explained that, like Hickson
before them, Victoria Harbour took
an early lead, having a 2-0 advantage
by the end of the third. The Tigers
once again rallied, scoring runs in
the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to
win the game.
The Tigers next shut down the
Alvinston Aces with a 4-0 win,
earning a berth in the semifinals.
Daw said that the game was a
pitchers’ duel up until the sixth
inning when the Tigers brought in
Though Saturday proved to be a
tough night on the ice for the
London Knights, their game against
the Erie Otters was a sold-out
success for the Tanner Steffler
Foundation.
Huron County Hockey Day, as it
was billed, began early on Saturday
morning with a number of local
teams taking to the Central Huron
Community Complex ice, followed
by outdoor activities and
entertainment for hours before the
puck dropped in the local Ontario
Hockey League (OHL) contest.
The arena seats sold out days
before the game and the outdoor
tent, which included a live feed to
the action on the ice, was also well
attended.
John Steffler, one of the founders
of the Tanner Steffler Foundation,
said that the foundation benefitted to
the tune of approximately $5,000
thanks to the game. He said ticket
sales, the 50/50 draw and several
other revenue sources generated
revenue of approximately $25,000,
but expenses were close to $20,000.
He said it was great to see 1,000
local hockey fans, many of them
young, in the Clinton arena to enjoy
the game. It really resulted in a great
day for the community, he said.
Not only was it a great day of
hockey and community spirit, but
Steffler said he was constantly
running into people who wanted to
talk about the foundation. While the
$5,000 raised will certainly aid the
foundation in its ongoing work to
assist young people in mental health
distress, the game was really about
raising the profile of the foundation
and starting discussions about
mental health and wellness, Steffler
said.
While there were numerous
volunteers on the ground making
Rough night
The London Knights were handed their second preseason
loss on Saturday night at the hands of the Erie Otters by a
score of 7-2. This continues a run of bad luck for the Knights
in Clinton, as they lost to the Otters when they were
here in 2016 as well. Austen Swankler, centre, notched assists on
the second and third goals of the game. The big winner of the
game, however, was the Tanner Steffler Foundation, which raised
approximately $5,000 at the game. (Denny Scott photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 2
Continued on page 3
By Denny Scott
The Citizen