Adam Prudhomme
Editor
The AFW Napanee U20 Express’ run for a third straight medal at the Fast Pitch Canadians came to an abrupt end on Saturday afternoon in Carp.
Playing for a spot in the semi-finals, the Express were defeated 7-3 by Quebec in their opening playoff round matchup, thus ending their tournament.
Napanee had entered the playoffs on a tear, having won five in a row to finish third in the round robin. Unfortunately for them their two loses came to Plattsville and Rostock-the eventual gold and silver medal winners respectively. Those two losses were enough to place third in the standings heading into the playoffs, which meant the Express had no room for an error and one loss would end their season. Quebec was the sixth seed by managed to pull off the upset in the win-or-go-home showdown.
Overall Napanee finished 6-3 at the tournament. They entered the Canadians as the defending champions, having won it all on home turf last summer and finished as silver medalists in 2022 in a tournament also played in Napanee.