U11 Sting to play for provincial medal on September long weekend

Yes, you read that correctly, our Beachin’ PWSA U11 Saugeen Shores Sting girls team is headed back to Stratford this coming Labour Day weekend to play for a provincial medal!

And in case you’ve missed how this came about, here’s a little recap for you.

On Friday, August 5th, our Sting team made their way to Cambridge for the Provincial Grands Qualifiers. They faced the Chatham Golden Eagles first and after an exciting, hard fought game, defeated the Eagles 7-6. Then on Saturday morning, our young athletes walked onto the field to play the top ranked team in Ontario, the Kitchener Klassics.

      Elliana Cameron, Janey Harris, Olivia Clark, Brooke Lamont, Lane              Topham and coach Matt Lamont preparing for their next at bat

Despite some nerves, our girls made us all proud by showing everyone they were true contenders and holding the higher ranked team to a 1-1 tie for the first three innings thanks to some excellent pitching by Elliana Cameron, Peyton Myatt and Marisa Barfoot.

Marisa Barfoot prepares to bunt – for larger view click on image

Unfortunately, the Klassics managed to find their bats in the bottom of the fourth inning and scored five runs and Saugeen Shores weren’t able to catch up. But all in all, our Sting team played an excellent game and received a respectable loss of 6-1 versus the highest ranked team in Ontario this season.

 

 

 

Payton Myatt pitching – for larger view click on image

Later that day, Saugeen Shores Sting stepped onto the field once again to play the Waterloo Ghost Gold. It was a very exciting, nail biter of a game as the two teams battled it out with some great pitching by Elliana Cameron, Peyton Myatt, Brooke Lamont, Marisa Barfoot and multiple hits by Penelope Martin, Janey Harris and Elliana Cameron. At the top of the 6th inning, Saugeen Shores Sting were down by 2, but thanks to a nice double by Janey Harris that brought Olivia Clark home and a single by Elliana Cameron to bring Janey Harris home, the girls were able to tie it up. Unfortunately, the Waterloo Ghost retaliated at the bottom of the 6th with a walk off home run and a tough loss to end the game with a final score of 7-6.

After the Grands Qualifiers, our Saugeen Shores Sting team were placed in Pool B and headed to Stratford on Friday, August 19th for the Provincial Grand Championships. After an easy win over the Oakville Angels on Friday morning where our Sting girls racked up over 42 runs, they faced the Cambridge Coyotes and defeated them as well with a final score of 10-6. Then on Saturday morning, Saugeen Shores faced local rivals, the Chepstow Diamonds. But despite the high score, our young athletes didn’t seem to be playing up to their full potential and eventually fell to the Chepstow Diamonds with a final score of 13-10. Thankfully, our Sting team were able to rally back and defeat the Port Perry Angels that evening 15-0.

Despite a very poor weather forecast, the Saugeen Shores Sting arrived at the diamonds on Sunday morning for the quarter finals where they were paired up with the Brampton Blazers. The girls played an excellent game with exemplary pitching by Elliana Cameron and Peyton Myatt, who combined forces to throw a no-hitter, not to mention the rest of the team’s great showings at the plate to bring in 15 runs, to collect the win with a final score of 15-0.

As the sky darkened, the players took to the field once again shortly thereafter, to once again face the Chepstow Diamonds for the semi-final match. After the first inning, the game remained scoreless with some great pitching from both teams. At the top of the second inning, Lane Topham and Penelope Martin got things started when Lane singled and Penelope hit a line drive home run to right field to bring them both home and put Saugeen Shores on the board. The Cheptstow Diamonds were unable to respond thanks to some great pitching by Peyton Myatt who came in and struck out three batters in a

row to ensure Chepstow remained scoreless after the second inning. At the top of the third, Maelle Wiles started things off with a walk, then Brynlie Wilcox singled to bring Maelle home. Olivia Clark was hit by a pitch, then Janey Harris singled and made it to second on an error by the shortstop and Brynlie and Olivia managed to score on the same error bringing the score to 5-0 for Saugeen Shores. Then, as Elliana Cameron stood at the plate, the sky opened up and the rain came pouring down. All players, coaches and family members ran for cover as the umpires called the game.

As everyone was waiting to see if the game would be able to resume, the girls showed their amazing sportsmanship as they sang and danced together with the Chepstow team members under the hastily erected tarps and tents, celebrating their love of baseball and all their accomplishments from the weekend and showing everyone that not even a downpour could dampen their spirits.

Eventually it was determined that the diamonds were no longer suitable for play due to the amount of rain pooling out in the fields and it was decided that the tournament would resume during the Labour Day Long Weekend.

And so, in two weeks’ time, our Beachin’ PWSA U11 Saugeen Shores Sting team will be returning to Stratford to finish their semi-final game versus the Chepstow Diamonds and continue their hunt for a provincial medal.

So stay tuned for the final word on this exciting tournament and the final weekend of play for this young and talented ball team from Saugeen Shores.