Express U11 Blue go undefeated, capture provincial OASA gold

Napanee U11 Express Blue earned provincial gold in Tara. The team is made up of: Front row left to right : Michael Rosebush (coach), Jake Dickson, Max Norton, Cohen Reid, Henry Boyles, Jaxon Elrick Second Row left to right : Lincoln Wysman (batboy), Kieran Palmer, Liam Lollar, Lucas Wysman, Alex Goreski, Benn Brady, Jace Gibson Back Row left to right : Chett Norton (coach), Paul Elrick (coach), Kyle Palmer (coach), Ryker Thompson, Chris Reid (coach)

Adam Prudhomme
Editor

Defense and contributions up and down the lineup were the driving factor as the Napanee U11 Express Blue team clinched provincial OASA ‘A’ gold in Tara.

Rain off and on throughout the weekend had the Express suffering between diamonds and enduring hours long delays, ultimately resulting in having to play three games back-to-back-to-back on Sunday.

“It was beneficial for the kids because they got in a groove and once you get out there and get in a groove and don’t stop playing, you don’t lose what you’ve gained,” said Express coach Chris Reid. “The kids on Sunday, they knew what was in front of them, we needed three wins to win and they just started pounding the ball.”

Napanee picked up a 16-0 win over the host Tara team in the semifinals to advance to the gold medal game, where they matched up against a Frankford squad that was responsible for their lone loss earlier in the season.

Batting first, the Express saw their first two batters reach. After a possible double play ball was mishandled and led to a bases loaded no outs situation, the big bats of the Express went to work and scratched out three runs.

Frankford responded with a a solo home run off Express ace Liam Lollar in their half of the inning, but momentum was still on Napanee’s side following their big inning. Lollar settled in and Napanee continued to add on, highlighted by a three-run homer from Jaxon Elrick to push the lead to 7-1. Napanee would go on to the 10-1 win to cap their season with a provincial title.

“Our kids at the plate were just dialled in at the plate and not swinging at bad pitches, waiting for something over the plate to hit,” said Reid. “Sometimes with 10 and 11 year olds they get excited up there and they want to just swing at everything. I would say every pitcher we faced we made them work extremely hard to get us out. Kids weren’t chasing things so we were getting walks and getting runners on base and then capitalizing that way with some of our bigger hitters.”

As good as they were at putting runs up on the board, their run prevention was what set them apart in the tournament. All told they committed just three errors in five games, a huge accomplishment at this level.

“Anytime (their opponents) would have a threat, they would just make a defensive play to get out of an inning,” Reid said of his defenders. “It was suffocating, that’s probably the best way to describe it. Teams just couldn’t put rallies together against us.”

Elrick and Cohen Reid shared pitching duties in the round robin, allowing Lollar to be ready for a heavy work load in the medal round.

Softball Napanee sent two teams to ‘A’ side of the tournament, with Blue being the ‘major’ team of older players with more experience, while a Red ‘minor’ team of younger players also participated.

After losing a couple of close games to older and experienced clubs, Napanee Express Red rallied to end their season on a winning note with a comeback victory.

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