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The Times Advocate, 2006-09-06, Page 15Wednesday,September 6, 2006 Exeter Times -Advocate Sports 15 Exeter co -hosts baseball tournament M ' — A Mike Seip beats a throw to first for Exeter Aug. 26 against Strathroy during league tournament play. Exeter won two games in the tournament before losing 4-3 to London. (photo/Pat Bolen) EXETER — The inau- gural season of the Exeter Senior team coached by Jeff Keller wrapped up Aug. 24-27 with the league tourna- ment hosted by Mitchell and Exeter. Exeter's first game was against Kincardine, a team that Exeter couldn't figure out all season, said Keller. Kincardine 4 Exeter 2, Scot Russell got the nod for game one and he did not disappoint. "Scot was our most consistent pitcher down the stretch, and we knew he would give the Kincardine bats some trouble," said Keller. It was a defensive game from the start. Both teams played excellent defence and the pitching match -up was perfect. It was Exeter who got on the board first when Mike Seip scored, after reaching with a single, on a hard hit by Russell up the middle. However, Kincardine responded with one of their own in the third, then two more in the fourth when some lucky bounces went their way. Exeter came back with a run of their own in the sixth inning when Fred Gregus scored on a hit by Terry Hogg. But that is as close as they could get, as Kincardine got out of some jams and held off some pressure from the Exeter offence. "I was very happy with the way we played tonight," said Keller. "Even though we did- n't come away with the win, it really boosted our confidence and was a fun game to watch." Russell pitched the complete game allow- ing four earned runs on seven hits, five strike- outs and just two walks. "Scot has great con- trol and allows our defence, which is pretty strong, to stay in the game. When you don't walk many guys, you always give yourself a chance for the win. You have to rely on the players behind you as well." Hogg led Exeter's offence with two hits while Jon Brand, Keller, Seip and Russell each had a hit. Exeter 12, Strathroy 9 This game was not as close as it looks as after leading 11-2 in the fourth inning, Exeter made a couple of pitch- ing changes that almost cost them the game. Terry Hogg got the start for Exeter and pitched a solid three innings, according to Keller. The only runs Hogg allowed were two runs in the first inning. However, after that, Hogg shut down Strathroy's offence to give Exeter's bats a chance to wake up and they did. Exeter scored five runs in the third inning when the starter for Strathroy lost some control. He loaded the bases on two walks and a hot batsman, then walked in the first run of the inning. Mike Agnew then knocked in two runs with a hard-hit single up the middle. Agnew later scored on another wild pitch. Agnew was on fire this game, said Keller, going three for three and a walk. Exeter added to their lead in the fourth with another hit by Agnew who knocked in Gregus, Gingerich and Laye. Agnew then scored on a single by Matt Iredale. The bottom of the fourth is when the game got interesting. Keller pulled Hogg with a nine -run lead to save his arm for a later game. "It takes five games to win the tournament. That is a lot of pitching in one weekend. I want- ed to save his arm." Mitch Iredale went in for Hogg. Keller said Iredale pitched a couple of games at the begin- ning of the season, but had not pitched for a while, and it showed. Iredale got off to a great start, retiring the first two batters he faced. It was at this point he started to have some control problems. After giving up a hit to the next batter, he walked five, hit two, then gave up a double to let Strathroy back in the game. "It had been a while since he played last. We should not have let him go as long as we did," said Keller. Rickey Regier went in the game to relieve Iredale and he shut down the Strathroy attempted comeback, allowing no runs on two walks, one strikeout and no hits. Agnew led the offence with three singles and a walk. Hogg continued to hit well also, getting a double and a single. Seip and Iredale each had doubles, with Brand and Gregus each contributing with sin- gles. London Stingrays 4, Exeter 3 The winner of this game would move into the semifinals on Sunday. Exeter came up short on another well -played game by both sides. The Stingrays "stung" first in this one, getting a single run off starter Brand in the first inning from two hits. However, Brand battled back to end the inning with two strikeouts. Exeter's runs all came in the third inning when Jason Finkbeiner got his first hit of the tournament and scored on a double by Hogg. Agnew continued his hot bat as he drove in Brand and Keller who both reached base on walks. However, the Stingrays pitcher set- tled down and shut the door on Exeter's bats for the rest of the game. Exeter couldn't hold their two -run lead, allowing the Stingrays to score two runs in the third inning with two more hits and then the winning run in the fifth inning with two more hits. Angew once again led the offence for Exeter with two hits. Russell also had two hits while Terry Hogg had another double and Finkbeiner contributed a single. The scariest moment came in the fifth inning when Keller was hit by a wild pitch on his left hand. He had season -ending surgery last week and will start his rehab assignment in the off- season. "J.B. pitched well throughout the whole game," said Keller. "The Stingrays got some clutch hits that drove in the runs they needed. It was a good solid baseball game from both sides. You can't be upset about that." Keller was right and the many fans who were watching the game commented on the calibre of the games all weekend and the entertainment they pro- vided. Kincardine, who beat Exeter 4-2 in the open- er, went on to win the tournament on Sunday by beating the Stingrays in the final game. Comments from the manager: "For our first year in the league, and many of our players first time on the field in 10-15 years, we did very well. We finished third in the league standings and played well enough in the tournament to win it all. Most of all we had a lot of fun. You can never truly lose as long as you are happy with the effort put forward and you have fun doing it. This was our goal all year and we accom- plished that. I want to personally thank our sponsors and Joe Fulop and Doug Fairbairn for helping us. Thanks to all the guys who made a commit- ment at the beginning of the year and sticking to it. I am glad you played. Lastly, and most importantly, thanks to our parents, our wives and girl- friends, and our chil- dren for allowing us to spend some time on the baseball field. I know how busy family life can get, and I know the sacrifices many of you have made in order to make this happen. Thank you." Quadro Long Distance Quadro Communications offers long distance, toll free service and calling cards for residential and business customers at competitive rates. - Residential rates as low as 5¢/minute - Business plans 5¢/minute and lower - Low International rates - No network access fee (519) 229-8933 >l Fax: (519) 229-8998 Toll Free: 1-800-265-4983 email: customer.care@quadro.net .••••• GiUADRO. COMMUNICATIONS ••• Global Reach with a Local Touch The world on your desktop, The power at your fingertips www.quadro.net Call, email or visit our website for more information! 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