Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Revenge is a dish best served cold, and on home turf.
And that’s exactly what the Napanee AFW Construction Express served up on Sunday, besting the Chepstow Lang Farms 9-2 in the gold medal game at the U19 Men’s Canadian Fast Pitch Championships at the Napanee Fairgrounds.
The victory came nearly one year to the day Chepstow had topped Napanee in the 2017 U18 Canadians, held in O’Leary, PEI.
Napanee AFW Express team captains Kyle Weese, Riley Manion and Brendan Hagerman are presented with the championship plaque. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
Napanee wasted little time getting to Chepstow ace Cole Pavey, who has had their number in the past.
Connor Brooks led off the game with a single and was promptly cashed with Tucker Firth rocked a monster home run into the trees beyond the outfield fence on the very next pitch.
Brendan Hagerman followed with a single and Finn Pierce reached on a bunt single before Pavey retired the next two Express batters. Just when it seemed like he was settling in and finding his groove, Jason McCracken ripped a triple to the outfield fence to cash two more runs and give the Express a 4-0 lead.
“After Firth hit that ball, we’re up on our horses, ready to go,” said McCracken. “Can’t kill that feeling that brought me to the plate. The crowd and everything was surreal.”
Napanee’s Jason McCracken hustles into third with a clutch two run triple. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
McCracken was able to rely on his experience against Pavey and made an educated guess as to what might be coming next.
“We’ve had at bats against him before,” said McCracken. “He throws a rise ball then one right up the chute pretty much. I got that low in the count, he had two strikes on me and threw the rise ball. After that I knew one was coming up the middle. I made a good turn on it.”
That hit chased Pavey from the game and Chepstow called in Mac Fischer. He restored order with three scoreless innings.
Meanwhile Express ace Riley Manion was on his game, throwing four scoreless innings.
The Express bats finally got to Fischer in the fourth when Hagerman singled in Cal Doyle and James Martell knocked in a pair with a single for a 7-0 lead.
The Express were then in the unexpected position of being able to close out the game with a mercy rule victory with a scoreless fifth inning.
Chepstow was able to rally however, scratching out a pair of runs to keep the game alive. They threatened for more before Manion was able to shut the door.
“I knew the game wasn’t over,” said Express head coach Bryan Brooks. “I look across the field and there’s just way too much talent to see the championship game end in a mercy rule. That wasn’t going to happen.”
Napanee quickly snuffed out any thoughts of a miracle comeback by Chepstow however as Martell drove in a run in the sixth and Connor Brooks added another in the seventh for some insurance. Manion pitched a scoreless seventh to close out the victory and clinch the gold medal.
“It’s pretty overwhelming,” said coach Brooks as the team gathered in the outfield to celebrate after receiving their medals. “The look on these faces says it all, it’s pretty exciting.”
After going 7-1 in the round robin, the Express opened the playoffs with a thrilling 4-3 walk-off, extra innings victory over Saskatchewan’s Prince Albert Astros in their first playoff game on Saturday.
That advanced them to the undefeated game where they met Chepstow, with a direct trip to the gold medal game on the line.
Pavey and Fischer combined to hold the Express to just two runs while Chepstow scratched out five against Manion.
That meant the Express had to play in the semifinals on Sunday morning to earn a rematch against Chepstow in the gold medal game.
Facing off once again with the Astros, the Express more than answered the call. Manion tossed a no-hit shutout while the Express bats came to life for a 6-0 victory.
With that win the Express had one more shot against a team they hadn’t been able to beat with gold on the line.
“Our house, our time,” coach Brooks said of what the team spoke about before taking the field. “We knew the crowd was going to come into play. We said that from the minute they beat us last year, we got to find a way to host this tournament. We know that Napanee’s a crazy ball town. Last year we got to the finals and we were gassed. We didn’t have anything left in the tank. This year we were just as tired, but we had 1,500 plus people to help push us through.”
Members of the Napanee AFW Construction Express gather with bat boy Camden Arthur in front of the plaque that will soon include their names as Softball Napanee national champions. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
After the win the team gathered in front of the monument that stands at the main entrance of the diamonds to see the spot where their names will be added as the seventh team in the history of Softball Napanee to win a national championship.
Napanee’s Brendan Hagerman was named the tournament’s all-star catcher. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
Prior to the playoffs, the tournament’s all-stars were announced and they included Hageman at catcher, Connor Brooks, who was playing up a level from bantam, as an outfielder and Manion was the top pitcher.
Team leaders: Hagerman led the way with a team high 19 hits, followed by Brooks with 17 including four triples and Pierce with 15. Firth had three homers while Brooks had one. Hagerman had 13 RBI, Firth 12, Brooks nine. Martell and Firth each swiped three bases while Hagerman stole two.
From the pitcher’s circle Manion registered a 1.72 ERA over 56.2 innings while striking out 102. He was 8-1 at the tournament. Brooks threw 12 innings, going 2-0 with 16 strikeouts and Tye Boyd had six strikeouts over 5.1 innings.