Beaver Sports
The Napanee U16 Express made themselves right at home this weekend, going undefeated in their invitational tournament.
The Express opened the tournament with a 13-2 victory over Oshawa, followed by a 7-1 win over Owen Sound.
The bats were still humming in a 14-1 win over Osgoode, followed by a 15-1 victory over Havelock in the semifinals.
In the finals they survived a slugfest, outlasting Cobourg 11-10 to claim the tournament’s top spot.
Owen Sound finished in the second spot while Osgoode finished third.
-Napanee’s Peewee Express also hosted a tournament this weekend and they too reached the finals before a close extra inning loss.
Napanee was down 4-1 going into the final at bat against Simcoe before they rallied for three runs. After blanking their opponents in the seventh, they forced extra innings which follows the international rules of starting the eight inning with a runner on second.
Unfortunately for the Express they were unable to cash their runner and it cost them. Simcoe walked it off in their half of the inning as their first batter ripped a pitch off the outfield fence.
Napanee had gone undefeated in the round robin, topping Westport 7-5, Richmond 15-0 and Brussels 8-0.
They battled a tough Kingston bantam girls’ team to a 9-6 victory in the semifinals.
All weekend long the Express were powered by strong pitching from the trio of Ethan Martin, Gavin Brooks and Easton Thompson.
The tournament was a good test for the Express as they prepare for Eliminations, which will take place July 6-8 in Oshawa.
– The field of 14 teams that will take part in the U19 Canadian Fast Pitch Championships in Napanee Aug. 14-19 is starting to take shape.
Ontario will be represented by five clubs, as the Ontario Amateur Softball Association announced on Sunday that Shallow Lake would be the third seed from the province. They join Caledonia and Belmore, who finished first and second respectively at the OASA Eliminations, held earlier this month in Napanee.
Last year’s National champions Chepstow gained automatic entry to this year’s tournament, as do the AFW Construction Napanee Express by virtue of being the host team.
Along with the five Ontario clubs, Saskatchewan will send three teams, Newfoundland will have two while British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia will all have one team representing their province.
-The Napanee Express mite boys took part in a tournament this weekend, finishing fourth out of 16 teams.
Friday the Express bats were rolling as they topped Springfield 15-4. Saturday they lost 13-8 playing to Wilmott but then flipped the script and bested Paris by the identical 13-8 score.
That win moved them to the quarter-finals were they won 15-5 against Twin Centre to advance to the semifinals where they lost 15-0 to Chatsworth.
-Softball Napanee will host its annual fundraising Canada Day Duck Race on Sunday at 2 p.m. Participants can purchase a five dollar rubber duck from AM Sports, Camden Variety, Canadian Tire Gas Bar, Kawartha Credit Union and Richmond Variety. The rubber ducks will then be dropped into the Napanee River water fall at 2 p.m. and the race will be on for cash prizes.