Sr.Men's nationals update and All Stars
August 30, 2008
Saskatoon, SK
Welcome to the Day 7 of the 2008 Ramada Men’s Canadian Softball Championship brought to you by the Saskatoon Amateur Softball Association. The 6:30 game was played with the memory of the exciting 8-6 win by the Gamblers last night still in both team’s minds. ISC Tournament Top Pitcher Todd Martin who gave up 3 runs in 3 innings last game took to the circle for St. Thomas facing Don Scott who gave 4 runs in his four innings last game for Jarvis. The playoff game was a much different one as both pitchers rebounded very well. Jarvis got on the board first when Ryan Thompson single in the bottom of the second scored Reno Dambrosio. The Centennials responded with one top of the third off a homerun by Mark Coleman to even things up. In the bottom of the inning the Gamblers loaded the bases but escaped, when Martin forced a Thompson ground out. First baseman Brad Robinson gave St. Thomas the lead in the top of the 6th with a line drive homerun to left. Martin got out of another jam in the bottom of the 6th innings as National Teamer Ian Fehrman led off with a single and was bunted to second. Steve Running entered the game for the Gamblers but struck out, brining up catcher Greg Courneyea who Martin got swinging, leaving Fehrman on third. Lefty Paul Koert replaced
Scott in the 7th inning. He gave up one hit but stranded Chris Wismer at first, by striking out the tournament RBI leader Dale Levy. There was still one more jam for Martin to get out of, as Dave Fowler led of the bottom of the inning with a double to right. That brought up Tournament homerun leader Jeff Ellsworth who struck out. Bill Simmons then lined one to Martin who smartly caught Fowler going to third. Simmons advanced to second on the run down and was in scoring position for Tournament All Star Pat Graham. However, Martin was too tough as he finished off the Gamblers striking out Graham swinging, on a vicious drop ball. St. Thomas who finished the round robin with a 4 win 5 loss record and in fourth place beat the 8-1, first place finishers from Jarvis The 2-1 win was especially sweet as they had been beaten by Jarvis at both the provincials and nationals
The teams that placed in spots five through eight will begin the playoffs on Saturday. Camrose will play Charlottetown and Horse Lake will play Westside Charlies/Budlight. Camrose was awarded 5th place over Horse Lake because they scored 27 runs to Horse Lake’s 21. Seventh place Newfoundland, ended up a -3 and PEI finished at -20. Last nights 50/50 draw was a tournament high $956.
SEE FULL STORY
The 8:30 game featured another two great throwers, Aspen’s Trevor Ethier against Vancouver’s Korrey Gareau. Ethier got into trouble as he walked Scott Newitt and allowed a one out single by Derek Mayson leaving runners on the corners. He settled in nicely however striking out Doug Cain and getting Rob Giesbrecht on a ground out. In the third Newitt walked again and stole second with 2 out. Ethier again pitched out of it, striking out National Teamer Derek Mayson. In the bottom of the fourth Sean O’Brien lined a one out double to right center brining up Aspen’s ISC Tournament hero Dean Holoien who struck out on a dipper that got by catcher Brian Banner and advanced pinch runner Jason Hitchings to third. Aspen could not score Hitchings as Tournament All Star and .500 hitter Pat Mackintosh grounded out to Mayson at first. In the top of the 5
The teams that placed in spots five through eight will begin the playoffs on Saturday. Camrose will play Charlottetown and Horse Lake will play Westside Charlies/Budlight. Camrose was awarded 5
th Dean Holoien replaced Trevor Ethier who had only given up one hit. In the bottom of the inning Gareau kept Chad Hanson on second after his double striking out Mike Lawton and Geoff Evely. In the bottom of the Aspens looked dangerous. After two hits were placed between two strikes out Pat MacKintosh came up again with a runner on third. Gareau was again the winner striking out Mackintosh . The 7th wa scoreless lead to anexciting 8thinning. In the top with the 8th batter Dean Holoien loaded the bases with one out after a pair of walks. With the top of the order up Holoien settled down getting Trevor Johnstone to ground into a force and Derek Mayson to pop out to third to end the threat. Frank Cox came in to replace Gareau in the 8th Keith MacKintosh hit in runner Geoff Evely from second with a single up the middle for the 1-0 win. Holoien and Ethier gave up 1 hits and Cox and Gareau 7. th place over Horse Lake because they scored 27 runs to Horse Lake’s 21. Seventh place Newfoundland, ended up a -3 and PEI finished at -20
TOURNAMENT ALLSTARS
Outfielders - From St. Thomas Evergreen Centennials, Dale Levy. He had a .387 Batting Average andled the tournament with 10 RBI’s and also had 2 homeruns and 7 runs scored. From PEI Hunters Ale Fawcetts, Jamie MacDonald one of the top batters in the tourney with 5 runs scored and an excellent average of .407. From the Host Aspen Interiors, Pat Mackintosh Pat was also one of the top hitters in the round robin. He scored 4 runs and knocked in 3 - with 13 hits in 26 at bats He had a great batting average of .500.
Infielders 1st base from Jarvis Gamblers, Pat Graham. Graham played every game at first. He had 69 put outs a fielding average of .970 as well as batting a solid .321 with 7 RBI’s and 7 runs scored including 2 home runs. At second base from the host team Aspen Interiors, Darrell Joy. He was another solid defensive player who also proved worthy of this selection with an excellent offensive week. He had 5 runs scored, 2 home runs and 6 RBI’s to go along with a .333 average. Third base from the Camrose Fury, Danny Corbett. This award sees a move out west to a fellow who played flawless defensively with 16 put outs, 6 assists and also swung a hot bat with a 10 for 28 performance to bat .357 – he had 2 RBI’s and 4 runs scored. At short stop from Jarvis Gamblers, Ryan Thompson. Ryan was another top ten offensive player for the round robin. He played solid in the middle and was able to get on base 48% of the time. He had a home run, 6 runs scored and an impressive 8 RBI’s to go with a .364 average.
On the mound the all star pitcher was from Jarvis Gamblers, Andrew Phibbs. Andrew had an excellent week. He had 4 of his team’s victories. He recorded 21 strike outs, gave up only 20 hits and had a small ERA of .1.77. Behind the plate, from the host Aspen Interiors, Sean O’Brien. He caught almost every inning and was flawless with no errors in many chances having 56 put outs. He also managed to be in the top 10 in hitters with an average of .364. The final all star is a utility player from the Bruno Merchants Justin Dauvin. With the diversity in the sport of softball - for many of these star players, it is important to recognize someone who is valuable to their team where ever they play. This young man played the outfield, third base and also pitched in a few games. In addition to playing strong defensively he managed to be the 6th top hitter with a .393 average consisting of 11 hits in 28 at bats with a home run and 4 runs scored.
Softball Canada’s Top Hitter in the qualifying round.
From the Jarvis Gamblers, Jeff Ellsworth. When a fellow gets on base 56% of the time he usually has a few fielders choices or some other means. Jeff however, managed to have a batting average of .480 made up of 12 hits in 25 at bats. Of those 12 hits, 4 were home runs – one a walk off. He had 5 RBI and a tournament leading 14 runs scored.
Softball Canada’s Top Pitcher in the qualifying round
From Horse Lake Thunder Sean Whitten. Sean had 3 of his teams 4 wins. He managed to acquire a strike out for each of the 27 innings he pitched giving up only 19 hits for a tourney leading ERA of .51. With only 2 earned runs in 27.7 innings and one walk, he was a true pitching star..
Softball Canada’s Most Valuable Player of the qualifying round
From Aspen Interiors Trevor Ethier He has been instrumental in his team’s success .He was outstanding on the mound for his team – having 4 wins, a minisucle .68 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 31 innings. As well as pitching, he played the infield and was a perfect 100% fielding. In addition he was at the top of the heap in batting as well with a .500 average made up of 12 hits in 24 official plate appearances with 9 RBI’s and 2 Key home runs..
