All eyes are on the Port Perry Angels U13 RED team

LORILEE YVETTE,

Special to The Standard

The Port Perry Angels headed north, on Friday, June 10th, to participate in the annual Barrie Bash Softball Tournament.

With a six-game round-robin schedule, the Angels were set to play two games on Friday, three games on Saturday, and one game on Sunday, with their goal of advancing into the playoffs amoungst fourteen U13 teams.

First up was the Halton Hawks Junior team. Off to a slow start, the Angels’ bats came alive in the third inning, scoring two runs, followed up with 11 more runs through the last three innings. The Hawks were held to only three runs with great pitching by Madison and Jada.

Next up was the Windsor Wildcats. Again, the Angels’ bats took a few innings to wake up, scoring seven runs in the third inning with singles from Natasha, Sam, Ella P., and Mackenzie. Despite some great pitching from Brie and Addison, the Angels fell short, losing 8-7.

Saturday was an early start, with the Angels taking on the Brampton Blazers. With Addison and Brie back on the mound, the Blazers were held to four runs, while the Angels’ bats exploded in the third inning going through the entire lineup and scoring eight runs. In the end, the Angels defeated the Blazers 9-4 in drop-dead time.

Game four, Saturday afternoon, was against the Vaughan Vikings Senior team. Struggling with the bats, the Angels were held to only three runs through seven innings. Yet, with great effort by pitchers Madison and Jada, the Angels lost 7-3.

The last game on Saturday was against the Kitchener Klassics Junior team. The Angels came out strong, scoring ten runs in the first two innings, with home runs by Brie and Ella C. Fighting the elements, a rain delay, and a wet ball, Brie and Addison held the Klassics to eight runs, giving the Angels an 11-8 win.

With the night and early morning full of rain, the Barrie Bash had to delay the start of Sunday and make adjustments to the schedule. The 6th game of round-robin play was scrapped, the teams were seeded, and playoffs started.

Placing eighth in round-robin play, the Port Perry Angels were facing the first-seeded Kitchener Klassics Senior team. The game went scoreless through two innings, with tight defence and strong pitching from both teams. In the third inning, with runners on base, Erica had a clutch hit, and the Angels took a 3-0 lead. The Klassics rallied back, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth, but with the time constraints, due to the delayed start, the game was called, and the Angels knocked out the first seed.

Headed to the semis, the Angels took on the third-seeded Halton Hawks Senior team. Brie got the Angels on the scoreboard in the first inning, starting with a home run. Lauren shut down the Hawks, on defence at third base, making all three plays. With singles by Ella P and Jaelyn to score another run, and a great catch by Dakota in right field, the Angels were up 2-0 in the second. With triples by Natasha and Jada in the third, the Angels opened up the lead with four more runs in the third.

On the mound, Addison shut down the Hawks in the third, with three strikeouts in a row. In the fourth, the Hawks closed the gap by three, only to fall short after five innings, losing 6-3.

After knocking out the first and third-seeded teams, all eyes were on the Angels. Who is this team from Port Perry? These girls played tough; they battled hard and earned their spot in the championship game.

Headed to the FINALS, the Angels went head to head with the second-seeded La Salle Athletics team. Facing some very strong pitching, the Angels were scoreless through three innings while the Athletics took a 4-0 lead. In the fourth inning, the Angels’ bats exploded, with singles from Mackenzie, Erica, Brie, Ella P., and doubles by Jada and Lauren. Putting the ball in play resulted in five runs and the Angels taking the lead. La Salle tied it up in the fifth inning, and despite a very valiant effort by the Angels, La Salle won the gold in the sixth inning, 7-5.

Congratulations to the Silver medalists, the Port Perry Angels RED team. Through eight games, rain delays, hard-hitting, smart plays, aggressive running, strong pitching, phenomenal catching, some clutch hits, and double plays, you did Port Perry Proud.

Special thanks go to coaches Wendy, Pippa, Josh, and Alyssa for your support, encouragement, and guidance this weekend.

We wish the PPA U13 RED team the best, as they compete in the John Cross Memorial Tournament in Cambridge, from June 17th to 19th.

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