Niagara Falls
August 11-13
The Niagara Snappers recently competed in the Niagara Falls Men’s Fastball Tournament held August 11-13 in Niagara Falls, ON. The Snappers, winners of the past 2 Niagara Falls tournaments, came away with their 3rd consecutive “A” division championship .. The Snappers finished the tournament with 4 wins 0 losses and 1 tie.
In game #1, the Snappers matched up with the Lake Simcoe Lightening and came away with a tight 4-3 win. Dan Duemo went the distance striking out 11 along the way. Todd Dawdy picked up a couple of RBI’s and Mike Bateman also chipped in with 2 hits and 1 RBI.
Game #2 was a tough battle with the Udney Storm. The Storm had Ian Knott on the mound against the Snappers Byron Demoe. Udney jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after 3 innings but the Snappers got all those runs back to tie it up in the bottom of the 6th inning as Peter Dobbin smacked a 2 run home run and Jarrod Burtt scored on a pass ball to get the Snappers even. Both teams could not push anything across in the 7th so the game ended in a 3-3 tie. Demoe struck out 9 along the way.
Game #3 saw the Snappers take out their frustrations from the previous match up and mercied the Bucktown Bees in a contest that took only 1 hour and 5 minutes to complete. Mike Bateman took the ball and threw a 2 hit shutout striking out 9 in 5 innings en route to an 8-0 victory. Bateman again continued his hot bat at the plate as he went 2-2 and Scott Young chipped in with a 3 run home run. Every Snapper started collected a hit in the contest.
In the Semi-finals, the Snappers took on RHCP out of St. Catharines. These two teams are no strangers to each other as the usually match up 4 or more times a year. The Snappers wasted no time and built a 6-0 lead after the first inning and did not let up. Final score was 18-4 for the Snappers. Mike Bateman started and was relieved by Perry Bartley who picked up the win. Todd Dawdy had a monster game as he went 4-4 with 2 home runs and 9 RBI’s. Kevin Newhouse collected 4 hits, Perry Bartley and Matt Bedrosian had 3 hits apiece, and Alex Szockyj had 2 hits including a 3 run home run. Szockyj ended the game with 6 RBI’s.
The finals once again saw the Snappers take on the Udney Storm. Another tight contest as the Storm gave the Snappers all they had but ended up losing 4-2. Byron Demoe once again got the ball for the Snappers and proceeded to strike out 13 batters in picking up the win. The Snappers were lead by Peter Dobbin who homered, Todd Dawdy who went 2-3 with an RBI and Jim Wilson who collected 2 more RBI’s. Wilson, Dobbin and Jarrod Burtt were all picked up to play in the Tournament of Champions that was being held in Kitchener, ON and had just finished playing for their respective teams before hoping in a car, driving back to Niagara Falls and making the championship game. All 3 contributed to the win.
With the win, the Snappers record in ISC II competition stands at 21 wins 3 losses and 4 ties. The Snappers will play a pair of GHFL doubleheaders. The first being on Sunday August 20th at Ker Park at 4 pm and 6 pm. The next game will be on Monday August 21st at 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm also at Ker Park. After that, the Snappers will head up to Hillsburgh to take part in the annual Ontario Challenge Cup with the winning team securing a berth in the Tournament of Champions being held in Kitchener, ON in 2007.
The team would also like to congratulate the following players on being picked up to play in the 2006 Tournament of Champions that just concluded.
Peter Dobbin – Palermo Athletics (finalists)
Jarrod Burtt – Palermo Athletics (finalists)
Mike Bateman – Micksburg Twins (tied for 3rd place)
Kevin Newhouse – Micksburg Twins (tied for 3rd place)
Dan Duemo – Ashland Merchants (lost in quarterfinals)
Trevor Falk – Elora Brewers
Scott Young – Elora Brewers
Todd Dawdy – JRW Associates
Jim Wilson – JRW Associates
Dean Carr – Waterdown Hammer
