Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Sports
A 3-2 record at this weekend’s PWSA U14 qualifier means the host Casa Art Adventures Napanee Express have played their way into Ontario’s ‘sweet 16’ bracket.
Despite a young core, the Express clinched a fourth-place finish at the weekend qualifier in Napanee, which places them in the ‘A’ bracket of the Grand Championship July 28-30 in LaSalle. The top bracket will be made up of the top four teams from four qualifiers that were held across the province, making them among the top 16 teams in Ontario.
“They came out really well on Friday night and Saturday morning,” Express head coach Jason Barkley said of his team at the qualifier. “As the competition started to increase we were able to perform for the majority of the games.”
Napanee delighted their home fans with a 17-0 rout of the Mississauga Junior Tigers to open the tournament. They followed that up with an 11-4 victory over the Kawartha Lakers on Saturday morning.
After suffering an 8-0 setback against the Richmond Hill Ravens, the Express found themselves in a must-win game against Stittsville. A win was the difference between jumping to the ‘A’ division or winding up in ‘B’. With the home crowd behind them, the Express responded in a big way with a win to cement their spot among the province’s top teams.
Their spot already secured, they had a shot at a medal but were eliminated by the Mississauga Senior Tigers, losing 10-3.
“We were able to compete for most of the game but we made a few mistakes,” Barkley said of the game against the Senior Tigers. “If we could fix those we should be alright.”
The Kingston Kobras went on to capture the bronze medal while the gold medal game between Richmond Hill and Mississauga was postponed due to lightning. That game was scheduled to be played later this week.
The gold medal game will be played on a diamond closer to the respective clubs.
The Express will now return to league play for the next couple of weeks as they gear up for the Grand Championship.
“We’re going to be in tough,” said Barkley. “The teams that qualify in the ‘A’ are typically senior teams, or have a majority of senior players. We’re about 66 per cent, with eight of our 12 players (being) minors. We know we’re going to be in tough but regardless it’s a great accomplishment for our team.”
Based on their showing this weekend, Barkley says they should be able to give some of the top teams a run for their money. They’ve also spent most of this year playing older teams to get ready for elite competition.
“I feel that we have the pitching to compete at ‘A’ and we also have the bats,” said Barkley. “It’s shoring up our defense that we need to work on.”
The tournament will be a great learning experience for the club, which hadn’t played on a large stage prior to last weekend’s qualifier. With so many of the players eligible to come back next year at the same level, it could serve as a great springboard into next year when they will be among the eldest players in the novice division.