Rookies Champs in Wyoming
Submitted By jrolph on Mon 06 13, 16
The Stickhandler Tier 1 Major Rookie Astros traveled to Wyoming this past weekend to compete in an 8-team tournament, returning home champions after defeating Kingsville 11-8 in the final. The locals went undefeated during the tournament with a record of 4 wins, 0 losses, and 1 tie. In the championship game, Ryan Hubbard set the defense tone for the game in the opening inning with a diving catch in left-centre field on the leadoff batter. The locals then were quickly down 2-0, but answered back with 5 runs of their own in the bottom half. Carson Harmer opened the inning with a double, and Jack Miller, Kellen Russwurm, and Ben Medhurst would all follow with run-scoring base hits.
Hayden Nicholson would add a 2-run single. Kingsville would start pounding the ball in third with some deep hits to the outfield, scoring 4 more runs to take a 6-5 lead. The Mitchell bats went quiet for a few innings before plating two runs in the bottom of the 5th to tie the game 7-7. Hubbard opened the inning with a base hit, and was driven in by Harmer's second double of the game. Dominic Marshall then plated Harmer with an RBI single.
Kingsville went 1-2-3 in the 6th, highlighted by a double-play turned by Harmer, Marshall, and Miller. The Astro bats came alive again with 4 more runs in the bottom half, opening the inning with 4 straight singles. Charlie Geiger's base hit would score the first run, and Joel Meinen, Nicholson, and Hubbard would also drive in runs.
Kingsville would add one more run in the top of the 7th to close out the scoring.
Earlier that morning, Mitchell defeated Port Lambton by a mercy score of 18-0 in 3 innings to earn a berth in the final.
In round robin play, the Astros opened the tournament on Friday night with a 16-0 mercy win over Lucan-Ilderton.
Next up on Saturday afternoon was the host Wyoming team, which saw a great sea-saw battle that ended in a 12-12 tie. Jordan Visneskie's solo home run tied the game in the top of the 7th, and the defense shut down the Wyoming bats to preserve the tie. The locals then faced Kingsville that afternoon, overcoming an 8-2 deficit to win 13-8. Marshall homered, doubled, and scored three runs to pace the attack, and Visneskie added a base-clearing triple during the huge 5th inning rally.
Congratulations Team!!
Article Courtesy of Trevor Russwurm