Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Home runs from Brooke Cressman and Amber Weese weren’t enough to power the Napanee U19 Express girls to gold at the PWSA II Qualifier in Ajax over the weekend, but the main goal was still accomplished.
Napanee fell 4-3 to Tavistock in the finals of the softball tournament, which still more than enough to qualify for the ‘A’ side of the PWSA Grand Championships, which will take place Aug. 2-4 in London, On.
Cressman went deep for a two run shot while Weese had a solo blast to account for Napanee’s scoring in the finals. Lauren Kennedy, Kylie Morrow and Megan Morrow shared the pitching duties.
Sunday’s finals were of little consequence overall, as both teams had already earned their spot in the ‘A’ side of the Grand Championships just by reaching the gold medal game. That gave Express head coach Scott Morrow a chance to get all of his players into the game.
Prior to the finals these two clubs squared off in the undefeated game. A close game through the first six innings, the Express exploded for seven runs in the seventh to secure a 12-3 victory. Weese homered and had a single while Natalie Clemens had three hits in four at bats to help pace the offense.
“We’re two evenly matched teams,” coach Morrow said of the Express and Tavistock. “Eventually we’ll see them at provincials in an important game.”
Napanee opened the tournament on Friday with a 10-0 win over Cornwall. Cressman had a home run while Kylie Morrow allowed just one hit over three innings for the complete game mercy-rule victory.
In their second game the Express rallied down 4-1 to take down the top ranked London Lightning Red, 8-7. Megan Morrow had two hits while Clemens was a perfect 3-3 at the plate. Megan Morrow got the start and gave way to Kennedy for the final innings.
Napanee’s bats kept rolling in their third game, scoring six times in the first for a 9-2 mercy victory over UTM East. Weese had a single and a triple.
Napanee will now look for at least a top three finish at the grand Championships in August which would qualify them for the U19 Women’s Eastern Championships, Aug. 22-25 in Fredericton, NB.
After not having enough players for a team last year, the core group of the U19 Express girls got together this year and have had a successful season to date. They opened the year by winning bronze in a tournament in Barrie. They followed that with a 6-2 showing at a Tier I and Tier II mix tournament in Mississauga before posting a strong showing at a National tournament in Oswego, NY earlier this month. In that tournament the Express, playing against girls three and four years older, reached the playoff round before losing in a walk-off to the eventual gold medal winners.
Rounding out the team is Maddy Cronkwright, Mary Grace Crosby, Jordan Mumby, Alyssa Proderick, Emily Proderick and Chi Suzuki.
Joining Morrow on the coaching staff is Ryan Sharpe, Dan Crosby and Kendra Kennedy.