Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Napanee’s U16 Express punched their ticket to the Eastern Canadians with a second place finish at eliminations, held over the weekend in Cambridge.
Napanee reached the finals on the strength of a 2-1 victory over Chatsworth in the semifinals but fell 6-2 to the Wilmot Thunder in the finals. The second place finish was still enough to accomplish their main goal of advancing to the Eastern Canadians, which kick off Aug. 12 in Fredericton, NB. This Express group will be looking to defend the title they won at the U14 level back in 2019.
“We were pleased with how the team played through the weekend,” said Express head coach Stephen Paul. “With it being really early in the season for us and the competition level was very strong, the boys on our team played at an extremely high level for such a short season. We’re all very proud of the results this weekend and excited about going to the Eastern Canadians.”
Gavin Brooks opened the tournament in style for the Express, tossing a no-hitter as part of an 8-0 win over Tara. He picked up 14 strikeouts along the way.
Napanee followed that with an 8-1 win over West Carleton and an 11-4 win over Chatsworth to reach the undefeated game. Wilmot would get the best of them in their first meeting, picking up the 9-5 win to place Napanee in a must-win semifinals with Chatsworth. Napanee got the job done with the 2-1 victory to secure their spot in the Easterns.
“Gavin had an amazing weekend and think we can easily say he’s one of the top, if not the top, pitcher in the province at the U16 age group and it certainly showed over the weekend, there’s no doubt about that,” said Paul. “It was a full team effort. In the semifinal game Brandon Barker picked up the 2-1 win.”
The Express turned to Kaden Fuller to start the finals. Paul said the entire 11-player roster contributed with strong defense and timely hitting throughout the weekend.
The Express will have a busy month to finish out the condensed season. Following the Eastern Canadians will be the provincials the following weekend.
Despite the sprint to get the season in, Paul says it’s just nice to be back on the diamond after last year’s season was cancelled.
“What’s really noticeable with all these teams is just that the boys really missed playing ball over the last year,” said Paul. “You can see the fun and just pure enjoyment while at the same time being competitive is really what this is all about and it’s just fun to be part of that.”