By Lorilee McKelvie
June 14-16th weekend hosted our Angels in three tournaments: Our U15 team was in Cambridge, for the John Cross Memorial Tournament; our U17Tll team was in Ajax, for the PanJam Tournament; and our Intermediate Ellis Team was in Ancaster, for the Cam Mitchell Women’s Fastpitch Tournament. All three teams brought home some hardware. Congrats to the U17 team, for capturing bronze, and to the Intermediate team, for going undefeated and taking home the Gold.
Our U15 team hit the diamond, Friday June 14th, for their first game against the LaSalle Athletics. After going down 2-0, in the first inning, the Athletics were scoreless through the next three innings. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Dakota took a walk, Erica, Mackenzie and Lauren all singled, putting the Angels up 3-2. In the top of the fifth, the Angels shut down the Athletics, taking the first win of the tournament.
The London Lightning were up next. With Ava H. and Sara on the mound, the Lightning were held to only three runs, while the Angels were very patient, taking walks and making some timely hits, scoring 11 runs.
Saturday morning, the Angels faced the Lucan-Ilderton Athletics. The Angels got on the board in the first inning, scoring four runs. Lucan battled back, scoring two in the first and 1 in the third. The Angels added to their lead, in the fourth, but Lucan fought back, cutting the Angels lead 6-5. The Angels added three more runs in the fifth. Going into the 6th inning, the Angels were able to hold onto their lead, winning their third game 9-6.
Their fourth round robin game was against the Cambridge Coyotes White. With tight pitching on both sides, the Angels took the lead in the third, with Presley and Ava N. on base. Clutch hits by Alexis and Dakota scored three runs. Cambridge struggled to get on the base. With strong pitching from Madison and the Angels’ tight defense, the Coyotes were limited to one run.
After going 4-0 in round robin play, the U15 Angels placed first in their pool, earning a bye to the semi-final game, where they would face Cambridge Coyotes Blue. Jumping on the board first, the Angels scored two runs, on a double by Erica scoring Alexis and Dakota. In the second, the Coyotes battled back, scoring five runs. The Angels fought hard, scoring two more runs in the third inning, cutting the lead to 5-4. Cambridge was shut down by the Angels, in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, leaving the Angels to their last bats. With hits by Dakota, Erica, and Mackenzie the score was tied up at five, with runners at second and third. Then a clutch hit, by Lauren, scored Erica for the walk off win.
The gold medal game came down to the two top teams, Port Perry and Halton Hawks, both teams went 4-0 in round robin play and won their semi-final game. The Angels got on the board first, with Dakota scoring a run on a single by Mackenzie. The Hawks could not get anything started, in the first, but were able to come back in the second inning and tie the game up, at 1. Tight defense by the Hawks, and strong pitching by Madison, for the Angels, kept the score tied at 1 in the third. In the fourth inning, Alexis started off with a double, scoring on a hit by Erica and Mackenzie, which was scored on a hit by Lauren, to take the lead 3-1. The Hawks were able to score one run, in the fourth, cutting the Angels lead by 1. In the fifth inning, Madison hit a triple, to lead off, and scored on a hit by Paige. Then two runs were scored, on a clutch hit, by call up U13 player Ava N. The Hawks kept battling, scoring one run in the fifth, ending that inning 6-3. In the sixth inning, with two runners on base, Kelly ripped a triple and then scored, giving the Angels a 9-3 lead, going into the bottom of the sixth. Halton did not give up, they scored one more run, in the sixth, and 2, in the seventh, but the Angels held on for the win, defeating the Hawks 9-6, winning the John Cross Memorial Tournament.
A special thanks go to coaches Wendy, Pippa, Erin, and Eric, for their time and dedication to the team.