Adam Prudhomme
Editor
A thorn in their side all season, West Carleton appeared to once again have the Napanee Squirt Express boys’ number, leading 6-2 late in Sunday’s gold medal game of the U12 East Qualifier in Cobourg.
Napanee had an answer this time however, rallying for nine runs in one inning to storm back for an 11-7 victory to polish off an undefeated weekend and clinch the top seed heading into provincials in Ponsonby Aug. 10-11.
“It was really good to see the resiliency in the boys,” said Express head coach Scott Thompson. “They never quit, they never got upset. They did a great job of staying in the game. We knew our bats could come back at any point.”
Napanee entered the game looking for a bit of revenge against West Carleton, as back in June the Express were one out away from tournament gold on home turf before West Carleton rallied for a walk-off, 4-3 victory.
Napanee opened this weekend’s eliminations with a 10-0 win over Havelock. They then got their first shot at West Carleton, topping them 15-5 to advance to the undefeated game.
Napanee punched their ticket to the finals with a 5-3 win over bracebridge.
Meanwhile West Carleton won three straight to reach the finals and held a late lead over the Express before Napanee rallied to clinch the gold.
“They continually get better and better,” Thompson said of the Express. “Though those (early season) tough losses, they really learned a lot and wanted to get to work and consistently got better.”
Thompson said their offensive output was a result of several players chipping in both with big hits and showing a willingness to sacrifice their own at bat to move a runner into scoring position.
“We had contributions from everybody all weekend, whether it was on the mound, bunting, batting or on defense,” said Thomspon. “Everybody really pulled together. They’re getting closer as a group. Great athletes seem to perform under a lot of pressure and we are starting to see this with this young group more and more. “
They’ll now take part in a mini-tournament this weekend as one final tuneup before the provincials next month.
Also taking place in Cobourg this weekend was the U10 East Qualifier. Napanee had two entries play deep into the weekend, with the Napanee Davis Plumbing Blue Express reaching the finals, finishing as silver medalists. They will advance to take part in the Mite provincials, which will be held in Springbrook.
Napanee Red also made the medal round, facing off against Havelock in the bronze medal game. Napanee Red would finish fourth overall.