Cyclones win Eastern Canadian championships

By Jeff Green

L to R Justin Miller, Ryan Tisdale, Jeff Carroll, Gary Davison, and Greg Carroll celebrate victory

The manager and three members of the Cyclones Bantam “A” fastball team, which won the Eastern Canadian championships in St. Croix, Nova Scotia two weeks ago, received a commendation and a plaque at South Frontenac Council this week.

The team, which is a product of the Central Frontenac ball league (located in South Frontenac) qualified for the championships at a regional tournament in Owen Sound.

After winning six of seven games in Owen Sound, the Cyclones lost by a score of 3-1 to the Stratford Memorials in the final, but both teams moved on to the 8-team championship tournament in Nova Scotia.

Team Manager Greg Carroll said that qualifying for the tournament wasn’t enough, because the team needed help to get there.

“That’s where coming from the country made a difference for us, because we got the kind of community support you wouldn’t get in the city,” Carroll said in an interview after the presentation in Sydenham on Tuesday night.

Through bottle drives, a BBQ, 50/50 draws and direct donations, the league was able to raise $6,000 to send the Cyclones to Nova Scotia.

The final tournament included teams from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick as well as the Cyclones’ arch rivals, the Stratford Memorials.

After losing once again to the Memorials in a preliminary game by a score of 3-2, the Cyclones faced them again in the final.

“In the final we figured out how to hit against them,” said Manager Greg Carroll, “and along with out pitching and defence, it made all the difference. The game ended with the Cyclones on the winning end of a 7-4 score, bringing the old medal back to South Frontenac.

Carroll credits his young coaching staff, Adam Garrison, Josh Vanderzande and Geoff Crawford with preparing the team for the championship.

Flinton youth strikes gold at Eastern Canadian Championship

It was an amazing nine days for 13-year-old Cole Bolton of Flinton, who won two gold medals with his Peewee Fastball Team, “The Napanee Express”. To start it all off was the OASA Peewee “A” All Ontario Fastball Championships held in Springbrook on August 16 & 17. Competing for the title were the top eight teams in the province. When the dust settled, the Express came out on top, defeating Mildmay twice in the final 5-4 and 7-5. Bolton pitched 30 innings in the first four games before teammate Kyle Copeland shut the door in the last game. This marked Bolton’s 7th Ontario fastball title.

With only a couple of days rest the Express headed to Fredericton, New Brunswick, for the Eastern Canadian Fastball Championships on August 21-24. In the preliminary games, Napanee beat Bass River, NB, 17-0, Conception Bay, Nfld, 15-0 and North River, NS, 12-8 before losing to Ontario’s second entry team, “The Mildmay Monarchs”. The loss meant Napanee would need to win Sunday morning to have a shot at the title. Bass River, NB, had battled back to get a second shot at the Express, but gave up a 4-2 fifth inning lead and lost 7-4. In the final, Napanee took control in the first inning and never looked back, winning the gold medal game 8-2. Bolton pitched the complete game scattering six hits and striking out 8. Bolton was named to the Eastern Canadian All Star Team and also awarded Tournament MVP.

The Eastern Canadian Fastball Championships is the largest competition any Peewee player can vie for. Napanee and Mildmay qualified for the championship back in early July by placing first and second in a 20 team elimination tournament. The eight-team final consisted of teams from Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.