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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-07-07, Page 13Fingal edges Selects 1-0 Fingal catcher Steve Goris, left; tried to put the tag on St. Marys Selects Doug Levy but he was not on time as Levy helped the Selects to a 7-2 win in the first of two finals games at the Exeter Chrysler Imperials Fastball Tournament on the weekend. Nelson Walker Top Pitcher Don Rae - Most Valuable Player '11-101iNATilPNTSC(j1Z1tS Bards Fingal 1, St. Marys Selects 0 St. Marys Selects 7, Fingal 2 Toronto 6, Chepstow 1 Buffalo 3, e)akvilk 0 $Parma 6, Glencowl"�^% 'Fullarton 6, Springfields St. Marys Nighthawks 4, Belmore "Steelhawks 3 Belmore Stingers 3, Merlin 0 Buffalo 11, Toronto 4 Oakville 6, Chepstow 1 Sarnia 11, Belmorc;Steelhawks 0 > ;j Fullerton 9, St. i=aillt4; BoluoreStingers 8s''I'oronto 5 Oakville 3; Mitchell Sarnia t Fullerton 0 Oakville 8, Belmore Stingers Sarnia 5, Buffalo 4 Finja110, Buffalo 0 Sall a 10, St. Marys Nighthawks 1 <' Fittga113, Mitchell 1 Fingal %;St. Marys Selects 1 St m Selects 8. Sarnia 0 St Mar 'Nighhawks 4, .Springfield Fingal 5, Belmore-Stingers 0 St. Marys Setecii St .Pauls 1 Mitchell 6, McYi St. Marys Selectt'3 St MarysNight- hawks 2 Belmore S . -. xrlca.5,B.ullarton 4 SL Marys Selea.Y; t p Jtuls 5, Glen aja %l{ 2 Jeff Shipley of the St. Marys Selects missed on this swing but he had three home runs during the three-day tournament. First place Fingal - $1,200 Second place St. Marys Selects - $600 Third place Sarnia Ransons - $300 Fourth place St. Marys Nighthawks - $200 16 teams at fastball tournament By Fred Groves T -A staff EXETER - It seems that when the St. Marys Staffens Selects come to the Exeter Men's.Fastball Tour- nament, Sunday becomes a very long day. The Selects, who lost a close 1-0 to tournament champions Fingal, had to play four straight games in the double knockout event to reach the final game. St. Marys has made it to the finals the past three years. Fingal play in the St. Thomas District League and are currently in second place behind Shedden Pests. Two years ago, St. Marys, the de- fending champions, and last year's South Perth Men's Fastball League champs, also had to play four straight games but that year, were beaten by the hosts. Sunday in Exeter, Fingal pitcher Nelson Walker had his rise ball and changeup working well and only gave up four hits in the seven in- ning contest. As indicated by the score, this was a pitchers' duel which pitted • Nelson, who won the tournament's mop Ritches Award, against St. Marys' ace Don Rae who was named the Most Valuable Player. Walker hurled 24 innings and gave up just 10 hits while striking out 32. Rao worked 39 innings and struck out 52 while allowing just five walks. Rae pitched back-to-back games against Fingal, winning the first fi-_ nal game as Fingal started Kevin Taylor who have up two quick runs in the first inning. St. Marys won the first game, a 7-2 decision and other than the 1-0 loss, their only other defeat in the 16 -team tournament was also to Fingal. Pinch runner .wiios it: In the fi- nal, Rae gave up a hit to Fingal's Jeff Carr and Terry Johnston went in to run for him. With two out, Johnston scored the lone run of the game when he tagged up from third -and came home on a Steve Goris sacrifice fly to left field. The best chance to get on the board during the game for St. Mar- _____ - n - ys came in the second inning when John Moore walked and moved to third when Frank Mueller singled. With two on and two out, the Se- lects couldn't get a run in as John Bell flew out to centre field. ' jtelects 7. Finea12 The third game of the day for St. Marys saw both Doug Levy and Jeff Shipley come up with a single -and-a-homerun-in-a 7 -2 -win. After going .up 2-0 in the bottom of the first inns* the Selects add- ed five more in .the bottom of the fifth. Fingal's two runs came in the top of the sixth on two hits. Fingal reached the finals unde- feated as they knocked off Mitchell 13-1 and beat Buffalo 10-0 before beating St. Marys 5-1. This year's tournament, the 12th Annual, and this year called the Ex- eter Chrylser Imperials Classic, had several strong teams playing in- cluding Sarnia Ransons who lost 5- 3 in an exciting semi-final game. The Selects had little trouble with the Ransons in the opening game of the tournament. an 8-0 decision. Sarniagot another shot at the Se- lects after they eliminated St. Mar- ys Nighthawks, the fourth place team, 10-0 Sunday morning. The Nighthawks, one of five South Perth League teams entered, gave the Selects a tough battle late Saturday night in a game which went 10 innings and saw a 3-2 win for the Selects. Nighthawks pitcher Scott Brook- shaw who threw well all weekend, did not allow a Selects run until the seventh inning. Tournament tidbits :...Thar were several familiar faces at the South Huron Recreation Centre dia- monds on the weekend, Fingal's Jeff Carr is a former Exeter Senior 'A' Mohawk and Springfield's Doug Todd used to play fastball in town...St. Marys Selects picked up Frank Mueller for the tournament and the pitcher -outfielder is a pro- fessional wrestler...Selects' Shipley and Levy were both candidates for the MVP as Shipley had three home runs and Levy had eight hits in 18 trips 'to the plate and was strong defensively. , I T Fastball teams are beating the odds am a little in awe over athletes who can beat the odds. The odds, can mean overtaking many obstacles whether it be inconsistent offi- ciating, beating a favoured oppo- nent or tackling weather which simply is not meant to be played in. Take this past weekend for example. I watched as 16 ball teams at the Exeter Men's Fastball Tourna- ment sweated it out in temperatures which left many people look- ing for shade anywhere they could find it. There was no one who passed out of heat exhaustion that I knew of and that's -a bit of a surprise considering what some of the teams NW to go through The 4t. Marys Selects played four games in a row. That's what they had to do because it was a double knockout tournament. So, they were on the diamond for well over seven hours in weather which most people including myself found it hard to get a breath just walking around. Big Doug Levy of the Selects is a team leader who 1 have never seen get upset and he was one of several St. Marys players who were flawless in their play...Levy and the others beat the odds. sidelines by Fred G roves It doesn't matter if they just missed winning the tournament by a single run, they still beat the odds because they never quit like one team on the weekend did. St. Marys second baseman John Bell is another player who beat the odds. Not only was he out in the heat, but he was hit by a pitch right on the wrist but he never missed an inning. It hampered his play a great deal as evident by his throwing but he hung in there. Credit due: In the game of fastball we tend to give a lot of cred- it to those who play in a higher calibre league, in this case, I am referring to the St. Thomas and District League. Fingal, the champions at the weekend tournament play in that league and they have to play second -fiddle to the St. Thomas Pests. The Pests, which this year include Exeter pitcher Derwyn Hod- gins arc undefeated in 15 league games. Fingal is close behind de- spite having several older players. Some people may believe that the intermediate teams such. as St. Marys are no match for senior clubs. The Selects certainly proved them wrong. Getting back to Hodgins for a moment, it's good to see the local men's team, the Meter Chrysler Imperials have kept their chin up and continued to be competitive despite not having anactr on the mound. Overcome: What the team has done is compensated with Dan Heiwood, Jeremy Mason, Mikc Neil, Steve Cook and Rick Scrim- geour. No great arms but they get the job done. This year, Exeter has scored as many if not more runs than they have in the past. It's nice to sec the attitude change because for the past several seasons it's been the norm to get a couple of runs and then hope Hodgins can hold them. The Ontario Junior Development League's decision to have their Junior 'D' all-star game at one location for three years and the teams share in the profhs is a good one Although there is pressure put upon the hosts, ip this case the Lucan Irish, all the teams arc required to help and then they share in the profits. Only one problem with this though, how do you monitor -the contribution made by each team. You could have one club which offers a minimal amount of service .bJt still get a share of the wealth. On thc other hand you've got the ha working teams and they get the same amount. What to do? The Westem Junior 'B' Hockey League has this type of all-star game format and it seems to be working well, if anything it may bring the league a little closer together.