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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2007-09-19, Page 23Wednesday, Sepember 19, 2007 SPORTS 23 Exeter Peewees are Ontario finalists EXETER — The Exeter peewees travelled to Belle River over the Labour Day Weekend to compete in the OBA "D" champi- onships with 11 other teams. Exeter got off to a quick start Aug. 24 in game one against Petrolia scoring two runs in the first and three more in the second to take a 5-3 lead. The game was broken wide open in the fourth with seven runs, the big hit being a home run from the bat of Colin Gingerich. The game ended after the fifth inning with the mercy rule coming into effect as the score was 15-5. Game two Aug. 25 had the locals facing the host centre Belle River Braves. Strong defence and good pitching helped the team to a 14-1 victory. The pitching duties were shared by Ty Bilcke, Devon Elliott, Justin Horner and Levi Christie who combined for 10 strike outs. The next game was against another unbeaten team, Port Dover. The hot bats seen in the first two games were kept off balance with some good pitching by the oppo- sition and Port Dover ended up winning 8-5, a sign of things to come. The loss forced a third game of the day against Woodslee. With a strong pitching performance being turned in by Mitchell Vandergunst the locals finally scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 1-0 lead. Elliott took over pitching duties, allowing only two runs in three innings which included striking out the side in the seventh inning. In the bottom of the sev- enth Christie came up with Silver medal — The Exeter Peewees finished as Ontario finalists at the Belle River OBA D' tournament over the Labour Day weekend. Front from left, Justin Horner and Zack Bedard. Second row: Grayson Homuth,Ty Bilcke, Mitchell Vandergunst and Josh King.Third row: Ryan Watson, Jacob Foxton, Devon Elliott, Colin Gingerich, Levi Christie and Josh Denotter. Back: coaches MarkVandergunst, Rob Watson, Ron Elliott, Ron Bilcke and Brian Horner. (photo/submitted) a game tying RBI single play the unbeaten Port scoring pinch runner Josh Dover team in the final King. that would require them to In the top of the first be beaten twice. extra inning the opponents Vandergunst took to the scored three runs. mound in the bottom of While the players were a the first with a two -run little deflated they never lead. gave up. After allowing two runs Vandergunst drove in in the first he settled down Horner with a single and to allow only two more then he along with Jacob runs over the next 5 Foxton scored on a triple innings. by Gingerich. Exeter trailed 4-2 after With two out Josh six innings. Denotter came up with a The "cardiac kids" once clutch hit to score again would give their fans Gingerich with the win- heart problems. Hing run. After Foxton scored on a Game five was against Vandergunst single the only other remaining Gingerich again delivered WOBA team, Saugeen a triple scoring Shores. Vandergunst and Bilcke The good hitting Shores and the locals took a 5-4 team was held in check lead. with a strong pitching per- Bilcke came on in the formance by Bilcke and bottom of the seventh to Christie, the team held on retire three straight to to win 13-8. force a seventh game of The team then had to the tournament. After taking an early 1-0 lead in the first the long weekend seemed to take its toll as Port Dover scored five runs in the sec- ond to take a 5-1 lead. The kids never gave up but could only get as close as 6-3 and had to settle for silver. All and all not bad con- sidering this year Exeter was forced to move up to "D" from "E". Members of the team included Ryan Watson, Justin Horner, Foxton, Bilcke, Vandergunst, Elliott, Gingerich, Denotter, Grayson Homuth, Christie, Zack Bedard and King. The coaching staff of Brian Horner, Ron Elliott, Mark Vandergunst, Rob Watson and Ron Bilcke, along with the fans thank the players for an exciting season that included an overall 23-12-1 record. Boys soccer —The U14 Boys Storm soccer team had an excellent season.They worked well as a team and every player contributed their soccer abilities which led them to celebrate the title of runners up for the West Middlesex region. Great season guys! The team is back from left, coach Tyson Christie,Tyler Hardie, Bart Rynen, Koedi Bryson, Marc Metzger and Matt De Ruiter. Front: Matt McGregor, Colin Fevery,Trevor Bryson, Kyle Brand and James Taylor. Missing: Jordan Phouttharath. (photo/submitted) Fury blanked EXETER — Goals are becoming hard to find for the Exeter Fury. The Fury suffered a pair of 1-0 loss- es last week to the Scottish team Wednesday and on the road Saturday against St. Columban. Against the Scottish, the Fury were under pressure in the first half but keeper Ryan Ralph kept the game scoreless with a number of big saves. Ralph made a diving stop followed by a split save on a tough shot. Exeter had a chance at the other end when a cross by Shawn McFalls found the head of Stu Parsons who managed to redirect the ball on net but into the arms of the Scottish keeper. The half was evenly played once Exeter got their legs under them. Corey Firth was able to find Craig Docking for a head ball just wide of the post and Docking had another chance moments later when his shot missed the top corner. Ralph had to be at his best a little later on a long shot he managed to get his fingers on and deflect it off the bar and out of danger. The Fury got lucky a few minutes later as a Scottish player missed an open net on a scramble outside the box. After the scoreless first half Exeter began to pick up the pace in front of new keeper Geoff Hall. The Fury began to con- trol the play and keep the pressure in the Scottish end. Exeter's best chance to take the lead occurred off a free kick by Shawn McFalls. The Scottish keeper made a diving stop but the rebound fell to the foot of Dave Poole. Poole, with the open net staring him in the face, was unable to get a solid shot away and the keeper was able to fall on the ball to preserve the shutout. When the Scottish did get to the Fury end Hall was there to make the easy save. The Fury continued to gain some great scoring opportunities as the half progressed. Trevor Boersma with a shot wide after a Docking cross and another by Docking who had a shot blocked after a chip by Pete McAllister were just a couple of the chances. Corey Firth shot a ball just wide off a corner kick after the goalie fumbled it. McFalls had another long shot just miss the top corner. With the Fury pressing and time running out the Scottish capitalized on their lone break of the game. One unmarked player broke through the Exeter defense for a breakaway goal to give the visitors the lead with under 10 minutes remaining. The Fury regrouped and continued creating offen- sive opportunities. Firth deked through three defenders and fired a ball into the side of the net but on the wrong side of the post. For all their efforts the Fury ended the game on the wrong side of a 1-0 result. "We played our best half of the season in the second but weren't rewarded for the quality of play we exhibited," team spokesperson Jason McFa is stated. The Fury hoped to carry the offensive momentum to Saturday's game against St.Columban. The game was played with a very strong cross- wind which made for an interesting contest. Ralph started the game in net but was replaced by regular keeper Ryan Masse ten minutes into the game. The first half was mostly played in the middle of the field without many chances to score. The home squad took the lead after defender Ralph slipped allowing the striker to break in alone beating Masse cleanly for the early lead. Nick Williams nearly tied things up with a defender draped all over him. His shot to the left post was deftly saved by the keeper at the last second. The Fury continued to struggle early in the sec- ond half but eventually the team began to play with a sense of urgency which resulted in a hand- ful of scoring chances. Ryan Ralph fired a hard shot that was saved but the rebound went to Parsons who couldn't fin- ish the play off. McAllister had another chip to Docking whose header rolled wide of the right post. The Fury continued to fight until the final whistle but were unable to get on the scoreboard. Masse made an out- standing save with two minutes left as he leaped to the left and deflected a shot over the bar to take away a goal. Hall played a strong game on defense for the Fury. "We've got three games left to try and pick up some points and finish the season on a positive note," McFalls comment- ed. Exeter's record stands at 6-5-4. The Fury get their first look at St. Thomas this season with a home game Wednesday and then head to St. Marys Sunday to tackle the first -place squad who have only given up three goals all year.