ST Thomas ON
ALVINSTON CAPTURES ONTARIO FASTBALL CROWN
This past weekend, the Alvinston Indians travelled to St. Thomas for the
O.A.S.A Ontario Elimination Tournament and turned in their most impressive
results on the ball diamond this season. They were dominant this past
weekend in all aspects of the game, and beat some big teams, as they
captured the 2007 O.A.S.A Ontario Elimination Tournament Championship.
Thirteen teams from across Ontario competed in the tournament, including
most of Ontario's premier intermediate teams.
In game #1 on Friday evening, Alvinston opened up against the Owen Sound
Crunch, and got their bats going early in the tournament, as they mercied
Owen Sound 8-0 in five innings. The Indians sent former Owen Sound native
Doug Charlton to the mound, and he impressed. Charlton threw five innings,
allowing three hits, 1 walk, while striking out 1, to earn the shutout
victory. On the offence, Joe Triest and Mike Black paced the Indians
attack. Joe Triest was 3/3, with 2 singles, a 2-run homerun, 2 runs, and 3
RBI's. Mike Black was 4/4 with 2 triples, 2 singles, 2 runs, and 2 RBI's.
Also scoring for the Indians were Ryan Swift, Theo Metron, Mark Saunders,
and Andy Triest. Also driving in runs were Greg Huston (2), and Metron.
Alvinston's next game was on Saturday against the ISC II #3 ranked Tavistock
Merchants. Alvinston climbed out to 1-0 lead in the first inning, but
Tavistock doubled Alvinston with 2 runs of their own, for a 2-1 lead.
Alvinston tied the game in the fourth inning, and then finally took the lead
in the fifth with 2 runs, and went on to add 4 runs in the sixth inning. At
the end of the game, Alvinston had clawed their way to a 8-3 convincing
victory. Ryan Swift earned the win for the Indians, pitching all 7 innings,
allowing 7 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), while fanning 5 Tavistock swingers. The
Alvinston Indians pounded out 16 hits in the game, with numerous players
earning impressive line scores, and leading the Alvinston offence. Theo
Metron was 3/4 with 2 singles, a triple, 2 runs, and an RBI. Shawn Fenton
did the same, going 3/4 as well with 3 singles, and 3 RBI's. Ditto for Ryan
Swift, who was also 3/4 at the plate with 3 singles, and 3 RBI's. Joe
Triest was also a member of the three hit club for the Indians going 3/5
with 2 singles, a double, and 2 runs scored. Mike Black (2), and Ryan
Chapman (2), scored the other four runs in the game for for the Indians.
Greg Huston drove in what turned out to be the game winning RBI, when he
pushed Metron across the plate.
The tournament was a round robin format, with 3 divisions of 3, and 1
division of 4. After your 2 round robin games, you were seeded one thru
three in each division, entering a single elimination playoff round.
Alvinston finished first in their division with their 2-0 record, and
crossed over to face the Palermo Athletics.
The Palermo Athletics are the ISC II #5 ranked team, and the Indians knew
they were in tough. However, the Indians offence was up to the task, as
they had been in the two previous games. Alvinston opened the scoring in
the second inning, when Ryan Chapman singled, advanced to second base on a
sac bunt by Doug Charlton, and then eventually scored on an RBI single by
Greg Huston. In the third inning, Alvinston piled on the offence, recording
six consecutive singles, and scoring three runs in the process, for a
commanding 4-0 lead. Scott Smith, Joe Triest, and Chapman scored, with Theo
Metron, Chapman, and Charlton driving in the runs. The Indians sent veteran
pitcher Doug Charlton to the mound, and he was dominant falling just short
of his second shutout victory in the tournament, as Palermo counted their
only run in the seventh inning. Charlton threw the entire 7 innings,
allowing 1 run (unearned), on 4 hits, with 8 strikeouts. Final score was
Alvinston 4, Palermo 1.
On Sunday morning, the Alvinston Indians found themselves in the
semi-finals, against the same team they lost to in the semi-finals of the
2005 ISC II Torunament of Champions, that being the Elmira Cubs. Alvinston
climbed out to an early 2-0 lead in their half of the second inning, when
after a Ryan Chapman walk with one out, Shawn Fenton doubled into the gap
scoring Chapman. Fenton then came around to score on an RBI single by Mike
Black. Elmira however, clawed back in the game, replying with two runs of
their own in the third inning, to tie the game. Alvinston went back to work
in the fourth inning, as they took the lead 3-2. Chapman lead off the
inning with a double, and then advanced to third when Fenton reached base on
an error. That set the stage for Andy Triest, who promtly executed the
suicide squeeze to perfection, plating Chapman from third base. The Indians
then added an all important insurance run in the fifth inning. Joe Triest
singled, and advanced to second on a Ryan Swift sac bunt. Theo Metron then
came to the plate, and hit a clutch RBI single to score Joe Triest. This
run proved to be important, as Elmira creeped close with a solo homerun in
the seventh, that made the game close at 4-3. That was as close as Elmira
would get though, as Doug Charlton came in relief of Swift after the solo
homerun, and earned 3 straight outs (2 strikeouts) to earn the save. Elmira
was a strong team 1-9 in the order, and Indians pitcher Ryan Swift had the
task of limiting their offensive output. Swift did just that, pitching into
the seventh inning, and earning the victory. Swift allowed only five hits,
walked 2, struckout 5, allowing 3 runs, in which only 2 were earned. Final
score was Alvinston 4, Elmira 3, with Alvinston now advancing to the finals,
with a chance to earn an Ontario Championship.
The Alvinston Indians were now in the finals, against the ISC II #9 ranked
Port Elgin Blue Devils. The Indians had previously lost to Port Elgin on
three occasions this season already, but in this all-important game,
Alvinston proved to be better. The Indians piled on the runs early scoring
1 run in the first, 3 runs in the second, and 1 more run in the third
inning, setting them up to an early 5-0 lead. Port Elgin replied with 1 run
in the fourth, to make the score 5-1, but Alvinston replied with 1 more run
in the sixth inning, to make it 6-1. Port Elgin threatened with four
consecutive singles in the seventh inning with 2 out, but counted only 2
runs, and Alvinston went on to capture their first O.A.S.A Intermediate
Men's Elimination Tournament Championship, with a 6-3 victory. Mike Black,
Joe Triest, Ryan Swift, and Ryan Chapman were all 2/4 in the finals, with
Chapman providing the long ball, as he crushed a solo home run in the third
inning. Scoring for the Indians were Andy Triest (2), Chapman, Black, Scott
Smith, and Joe Triest. Driving in the runs were Chapman (2), Black, Joe
Triest, and Swift. Doug Charlton pitched phenomenally in the finals,
allowing only 6 hits to the potent Port Elgin offence, while striking out 5,
to earn the championship win.
All in all, the Alvinston Indians finished 5-0 on the weekend, as they were
crowned the O.A.S.A Intermediate Men's Ontario Champions. Charlton pitched
20 innings on the weekend, allowing only 3 earned runs. The Indians offence
was hard at work, amassing 30 runs in the five games, and their team batting
average was an impressive .395, with Joe Triest, Ryan Swift, Mike Black and
Ryan Chapman all batting .500 or better. It was definitely a memorable
weekend for the Indians, as they hope to carry on this momentum onto the ISC
II Tournament of Champions in Kitchener, August 14-18.
Next up for the Indians are their two remaining league games to finish up
their St. Thomas & District Fastball League schedule. The Indians are at
home Wednesday, August 8, against the Bucktown Bees, beginning at 8:00pm.
They travel to Blenheim Sunday, August 12, for a 2:00pm afternoon tilt with
the third place Blenheim Home Run Restaurant.
From . fastballchico13@hotmail.com
