Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Napanee’s Connor Brooks contributed from both the plate and the pitcher’s circle in Team Canada’s U17 Men’s gold medal performance at the U17 Pan American Softball Championships in Guatemala.
Brooks had a hit in five of six games, finishing with a .294 batting average. He reached base at a clip of .455 and added an RBI and five runs scored. In each game he was penciled in as the number three hitter in Canada’s strong offensive line-up.
“The crowd itself was crazy,” Brooks said of the tournament. “They had a whole bunch of drums, people screaming. The crowd itself was different but obviously the competition was really good too. It was just an all-around crazy, cool experience.”
After dropping their tournament opener in extra innings to the US, the Canadians went on to run the table, defeating Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Argentina and Mexico once more on Saturday in the finals.
“Nobody expected to lose in that way,” Brooks said of the loss to the US. “The coaches never really lost any faith, they always seemed positive and knew we had a lot more in us to play better. That loss just gave us a bit of a boost and brought us together a lot closer. I think it helped a lot through the tournament.”
From the pitcher’s circle Brooks’ final numbers were inflated by one bad inning against the US. Control eluded the 16-year-old hurler in one inning of relief as he was charged with four runs on five walks and one hit in Canada’s first game. He was able to strike out the side and later came around to score the tying run in the seventh to send the game to extras, where they ultimately fell short.
Just as his teammates did, Brooks rebounded in a big way. He came back on Wednesday to pitch five scoreless innings against Panama, allowing just one hit in the complete game victory. He struck out six along the way.
“Being able to have my teammates behind me, nobody was really down on me,” Brooks said of how he was able to rebound from the first outing. “Everybody was keeping me up and pushing me to be better. As the game went on everyone was definitely a lot more relaxed. I felt a lot more relaxed on the mound just to know I hadn’t lost it. It was nice to take a deep breath and just say I finally got that good one under my belt.”
For the tournament he finished with a 4.66 ERA in six innings, allowing two hits while striking out nine.
As a two-way player, Brooks was able to contribute with the bat throughout the tournament, which helped take his mind off the one bad inning.
“Even in the game against the States, after I was pulled it was time to focus on hitting and put that behind me,” said Brooks. “It was nice to have those hits in key times and different things that worked out to help put that behind me.”
Though they went on to win the whole thing, just reaching the top four automatically qualified the Canadians for the 2020 WBSC Men’s World Cup, which will take place in New Zealand next February.
“I don’t think it’s really kicked in to anyone yet about how lucky we are,” Brooks said of qualifying. “But just knowing we’re going through the front door and playing as the top team in our region is pretty cool and we’re all looking forward to it.”
“A huge thank you to all the sponsors and the people that helped me get there,” added Brooks.
Earlier this year in August Brooks helped pitch his hometown Napanee Express to gold at the U16 Fast Pitch Canadian Championships in Saskatoon. He was also called up as a member of the defending champion U19 Express, who played one week later in Owen Sound.