Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Clutch, two-out rallies powered the Napanee U19 Express to gold this weekend at the 2021 U19 Eastern Canadian Championships, held in Fredericton, NB.
Napanee clinched the gold with a 13-4 victory in six innings in Sunday’s final. Despite the final score, the game was a back-and-forth affair with Napanee pulling away in the fifth.
Trailing the Tavistock Athletics 2-0 after the first inning, the Express strung together a two-out, four run rally. Ty Branchaud drove in a pair with a base hit to ignite the offense.
The Athletics answered back in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs to tie the game. They were able to get to Express ace Connor Brooks early as he dealt with a blister, limiting his pitch arsenal.
“Connor’s finger had a giant blister that we had to deal with,” said Express head coach Cory Brooks. “He couldn’t throw a rise ball in both (the final and semifinal) games until late in the games for fear of ripping his finger and not being able to pitch. Connor threw all drop balls and changeups all game it looked like he was a lot more wild than what he was. The weather out there was a lot more humid than the heat we’re used to at home. Everybody’s playing the same game so it’s not an excuse, but we were tiring and so were they, it was kind of one of those days where they tired faster.”
The Express were able to outlast their opponents and the offense poured it on late. Already up 8-4, Branchaud sealed the win with a bloop two run double to make it 10-4 in the sixth. The Express would tack on three more and then close out the game with a scoreless bottom half of the sixth to clinch gold.
As impressive as their two-out magic in the finals was, they had an even better display in the semifinals. Facing the same Athletics team they’d meet in the finals, Napanee trailed 7-2 in the seventh and were one out away from defeat, which would place them in a win-or-go home situation.
Unfazed, the Express loaded the bases for Robbie Barker-and he delivered, crushing the offering over the fence to cut the deficit to one and fire up the Express bench. Still feeding off that energy, Branchaud followed with an inside the park homer to tie the game at 7-7.
The game would move to extra innings from there and under international rules, each team started their inning with a runner on second. The two teams traded runs until the 10th when Joe Mick poked a two strike infield single to cash in a runner from third and take a 10-9 lead. With two outs Ty Franklin drove an RBI double to the wall and Bryson Gilpin picked up a huge insurance RBI single to centre. Napanee held on for the 12-9 victory to advance to the finals.
“The emotion on the ball field when that ball as hit by Robbie kind of gave us hope,” said Brooks. “Then Branchaud right after hitting the inside-the-park home run it turned the game around instantly. It was more than just a momentum shift, it changed the whole dynamic from there. It was just a matter of who was going to falter first in extra innings.”
Earlier in the tournament the Express helped provide one of the best highlights of the Eastern Canadians. After defeating Cape Breton in their first game, the team stayed on the field to allow one more batter to take an at-bat. Caleb, who has Down syndrome, has been a huge volunteer helper with the Cape Breton club. He made the most of his at-bat, connecting on a ground ball to first that the Express fielders managed to misplay long enough to turn into an inside-the-park home run.
“The (Cape Breton) coach asked me about having him hit a ball at the end of the game and I thought we could really do this really better, I’ll bring in our other thrower, I’ll let him throw some pitches and let him take a hit,” said Brooks. “We have this big ball and chain for hitting home runs like they do in MLB, we’ll put it on him and have some fun and really make this a special day for everybody in the ballpark. With all the mixed emotions, not a dry eye in the house. That’s a big thing for our guys to do.”
Brooks said that display was the perfect example of the kind of team they have and how it translated to success on the field.
“If someone makes an error the guys are always there to pick them up,” said Brooks. “If somebody’s having a bad game they’re there to pick them up. I wouldn’t say we took the easy way but the team part of this game is being there when a teammate’s not having a good game and we do that well and we do a lot of things well away from the ballpark as well which makes it key for us in our success.”
As strong as this year’s U19 team was, they’ll have a chance to defend their title next year as every player is eligible to return next year as Softball Canada extends the age bracket to U20.
-Former Express player and Napanee resident Riley Manion was named Most Valuable Pitcher at the U23 Provincials. A member of the Owen Sound Selects, Manion had an ERA of 0.50 for the gold medal winning Selects, averaging two strikeouts an inning.