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The Times Advocate, 2006-08-02, Page 10THIS WEEK IN SPORTS Fury Page 1 I Express Page 12 Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2006 Tar Heels in Cooperstown NEW YORK — Last fall, four area base- ball players were selected to play on the Western Ontario Baseball Association (WOBA) 1994 region- al team for the 2006 season. The team, called the Tar Heels was chosen from boys born in 1994 from all the centres in the WOBA. The Exeter area was represented by Ty Bilcke, Justin Horner, Mitch Vandergunst and Ryan Watson. Other members of the team came from Kincardine, Goderich, Saugeen Shores and Listowel. The team was coached by Sean Peet of Goderich, who attended Ohio State University on a baseball scholarship. The assistant coach and manager was Dave Dykxhoorn of Goderich who orga- nized the team and the schedule. The schedule included weekly practices, exhibition games and three tournaments. The final tourna- ment was at the Cooperstown Baseball World in the Cooperstown area of New York State. This tournament saw the Tar Heels play against teams from Ohio, (((<(&ztzl VIII :10E From left, local ballplayers Mitchell Vandergunst, Justin Horner, Ryan Watson and Ty Bilcke were part of the Western Ontario Baseball Association Tarheel team that competed at the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, NewYork recently. (photo/submitted) Pennsylvania, New York, California New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and Louisiana. While the Tar Heels were made up of players born in 1994 the majority of the players on the U.S. teams were born in 1993 as a result of different age restrictions. The Tar Heels were able to mercy the Bakersfield California team, which play and prac- tice year round, by a 12-2 score. Although the schedule didn't have them play against the Louisiana Gator team, which won the tournament, this team was made up of players all born in 1993 and had full time, paid coaches. As a team the Tar Heels had 10 home runs for the tourna- ment which put them sixth out of the 10 teams participating. The players had an experience of a life- time, playing on immaculate baseball fields, visiting the baseball hall of fame and singing "0 Canada" in front of all of the other teams during opening cere- monies. They also made new friends from the other teams, espe- cially with Brookline Bombers of Pennsylvania which cheered the Tar Heels on every chance they had. The boys thank their area sponsors for their support who supplied uniforms, hats, bags and bat- ting helmets as well as sponsorship of equipment and team shade tent. Sitter earns place on Canadian team By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF VANCOUVER — Former Exeter resident Doug Sitter will head to Egypt in December as a member of the Canadian National Team for the Free Diving world championships. Sitter, 30, earned the right to represent Canada at the Canadian Association of Free Diving and Apnea champi- onships in Vancouver July 14-16. In addition to the spot on the national team, Sitter also achieved three personal bests. It will be the first overseas competition for Sitter and the first in warm water, which he says will make a difference. "Diving in cold water with a heavy wet suit will be a lot different than diving in nice clear warm water. In B.C., the first five metres you can't see a foot in front of you." For the upcoming event, Sitter said he will train every day with a variety of activi- ties, including morning swims twice a week, long distance bike riding and free diving practice. He will also work on his deep diving, which he didn't place in during the Vancouver competition. "I did very well in my static and dynamic, but the deep diving is what I need to train for...I'd like to be in the 200 foot range when I get to Egypt." Age is playing a factor with Sitter's increased perfor- mance with both the mental aspects of training as well as physically. "You're a little more selec- tive with what you're body wants and how it performs if you feed it certain things." Sitter also performs yoga which he says helps with flex- ibility, especially in his chest. "When you're 100 feet under water...and your lungs are squashed down to almost nothing you have to be very flexible in the rib cage. If you didn't have that flexibility you could have a tear in your lung or even your trachea." Sitter said while four team Former Exeter resident Doug Sitter will travel to Egypt in December with the Canadian Freediving team to compete in the world cham- pionships. (photo/submitted) members will be going to Egypt, only three will actually compete. After coming close to mak- ing the team last year, Sitter said he stepped it up this year. "I pushed myself and it's gone very well. It's something I'm good at." SPORTS Tips? Contact Exeter Times Advocate Tel: Pat Bolen (519) 235-1336 x113 Fax: (5 1 9) 235-0766 E-mail: sports©southhuron.com Exeter Times -Advocate Overholt on the mound for summer games Exeter Bantam pitcher Scott Overholt will be on the mound for the Western Ontario Baseball Association team in the Ontario Summer Games in Ottawa next week. (photo/Pat Bolen) OTTAWA — An Exeter baseball player will be taking on the best in Ontario next week during the Ontario Summer Games in Ottawa. Bantam Scott Overholt, age 14, will be pitching and playing first base for the Western Ontario Baseball Association (WOBA) and was invited to try out for the team after a game in Listowel. Baseball, and 18 different sports are represented at this year's games Aug 9.-12. Overholt will be the starting pitcher for game one of the tour- nament, but said he was surprised to be asked to try out for the team. The athletes are all under 22 years of age with 3,500 partici- pants registered and administered by 800 volunteers. Over 10,000 spectators are expected. Each area of Ontario is repre- sented in baseball, with the play- ers from the Bantam age catego- ry, 13 to 15 years of age. The selection from the WOBA represents an area including St. Marys, Mitchell, Parkhill, Exeter, Goderich, Kincardine, Saugeen Shores, Owen Sound, Hanover, Walkerton, Centre Wellington and Listowel. Bill Wilkinson, head coach of the WOBA team said "this year we had a difficult time in selection of the team as we had over 30 play- ers attend tryouts and all players had the enthusiasm and desire to play." Wilkinson, who also coached the 2004 Ontario Summer Games team held in London, said this is a great experience for the players and is something for them to remember for years to come. Similar to the Olympic format, the games begin with a parade of the participants into Lynx Baseball Stadium Aug. 9. The team plays two games Aug. 10 and three games Aug. 11 Aug. 12 is medal day with the possibility of two or three more games and Wilkinson has hopes to be in the medals. HENSALL JULY 25 Shuffleboard (5 GAMES) Catherine DeCorte 522, Hank Dorssers 461 S4 GAMES) can Wilbee 417, George Racey 406, Harry Pennings 307 Gord Ross 273 (3 GAMES) arj Reichert 429, Cecil Pepper 401, Rose Regier 310. Ray Bennewies 297 Cor Dedorte 263 EXETER MINOR BASEBALL would like to extend our CONGRATULATIONS to our recent draw winners. 1st Prize: 4 Blue Jay tickets and $200.00 spending money Eugene & Michelle King, Dashwood 2nd Prize: $175.00 Cash - Terry Chapman, Exeter 3rd Prize: Golf Pass for 18 holes with carts for 4 at Tamarack Ridge Golf Club, Putnam - Suzie McComb, Huron Park 4th Prize: $100.00 Cash - Jenna Dayman, Hensall 5th Prize: $50.00 Cash - Remi Verhoeven, Exeter Special thanks to Tamarack Ridge Golf Club and all who participated for making this fundraiser a great success. Exeter Minor Baseball Executive