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Independent & Free Press, Wednesday, August 22, 2007 17 SPORTS & LEISURE The Georgetown Eagles are the 2007 Baseball Canada under-13 boys' champions after beating Quebec 5-1 on Sunday evening in Quebec City. Team members (front, from left) are: bat boy Mark Sinclair, Adam Hoover, Luke Sinclair, Kaleb Leff, Mike Courvoisier, Tom Byckowski, Mark Jankowski, Kyle Hann, bat boy Robert Byckowski. Back row: Head coach Bill Byckowski, assistant coach Jason Corrigale, Anthony Marra, Adam Anderson, Zack Sardellitti, Carson Kelly, Ron Stewardson, Jonathan Palumbo, Brad Bedford, assistant coaches Bob Elliott, Jim Ridley. Submitted photo Surprising Eagles national peewee ball champs EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer When the Georgetown Eagles arrived in Quebec City for Baseball Canada's peewee boys' championship tournament last week, it soon became apparent that as the Team Ontario representatives, they'd be considered public enemy number one in La Belle Province. A handful of Eagle players weren't even playing competitive baseball two years ago, let alone be dreaming of becoming part of a national title-winning squad. Just to win the 17-team provincial qualifier in Whitby earlier this month was a huge accomplishment-- the first time a Georgetown Baseball Association club had ever reached that point. So, on day one of the 11-team tournament last Thursday, the Ontarians discovered while playing the host team that as one of the tourney favourites, there wouldn't be an easy route to the finals. "I wouldn't say it was a hostile environment, because there were other provinces cheering for us during the week, but the crowd could be a little intimidating for a bunch of 12- and 13-year-olds," said Eagles' head coach Bill Byckowski, whose team went on to make more friends by knocking off the second Quebec team 5-1 in Sunday night's championship game. "You could tell as the tournament went on that the boys got more comfortable playing in pressure situations and that they weren't going to be intimidated. And we kept seeing everybody's best pitcher because we're from Ontario. When you consider how far they've come in only a couple of years, that's what made this so special. It's quite an accomplishment to win the Canadians in the largest and toughest age group in all of the divisions out there." The schedule didn't seem to work in Team Ontario's favour, either as rain on opening day meant that their game with Quebec City on day one had to be suspended in the fifth inning with the hosts leading 3-1 after a late start. Yet the Eagles came back to twice tie the game the next morning eventually post a 6-5 extra-inning victory on an RBI single by Burlington's Brad Bedford, then won two more games that day to get a stranglehold on first place in their pool. A meaningless 3-0 loss to B.C. followed on Saturday, setting up a 10-0 mercy of Saskatchewan in a semifinal matchup. Against undefeated Quebec in the final in front of another large crowd, the Eagles calmly built a 4-0 lead in their first at-bat and rode the pitching of tourney pick-up Ron Stewardson of London all the way through to an eventful bottom of the seventh and last inning with Georgetown leading 5-1. Team Quebec loaded the bases but Ontario third-baseman Luke Sinclair of Dundas made a key force-out play at home and then Stewardson struck out the opposition's clean-up hitter to finish off his complete-game gem and trigger the celebrations. "For the coaches, it was a great relief, but some of these kids are so green I don't think things are sinking in about what they've done yet," said Byckowski. Originally set to play in the Ontario Baseball Association championships on the Labour Day weekend, the Eagles decided instead to end their season with the nationals as their final memory. "We're national champions and we don't really have much else to accomplish since we beat all the top teams in Ontario at the qualifying tournament," said the head coach of his team, which compiled a 63-3 overall record. "It's nice just to end the season on a winning note after what it took to get this far." Preliminary round-- Ontario 10, New Brunswick 2: Carson Kelly (2HR, 2B, 5RBI); Brad Bedford (5IP, 9K), Zackary Sardellitti (2IP, 5K, W, 2SB); Adam Anderson (2B, SB). Ontario 6, Quebec City 5 (9 inns.): Luke Sinclair (7IP, 14K, 1ER); Ron Stewardson (2IP, W); Sardellitti (2B, 3B); Bedford (3SB); Anderson, Tom Byckowski (RBI). Ontario 12, Alberta 2: Anderson (4IP, 8K, W); Kelly (2RBI); Anthony Marra (2H, 2R); Mike Courvoisier (R). Ontario 11, Manitoba 0: Byckowski (5IP, 2H, 6K, W); Stewardson (2B, 3R); Bedford (3B, 2R); Kelly (2B, HR); Jonathan Palumbo (2RBI); Adam Hoover (RBI); Courvoisier (2R). B.C. 3, Ontario 0: no report. Semifinals-- Ontario 10, Saskatchewan 0: Sardellitti (4IP, 6K, W); Stewardson (3-4, 2RBI, 23B); Kyle Hann (2RBI). Championship-- Ontario 5, Quebec 1: Stewardson (7IP, 10K, W); Anderson (2-4, 2RBI); Mark Jankowski (RBI); Hann (2R). 'Dogs win provincial crown A rare 3-2 loss in the preliminary round to Oakville seemed to fire up the Halton Hills Bulldogs as they won their next four games convincingly and captured the Ontario Lacrosse Association peewee A championship this past weekend in Guelph. With a 37-2-2 overall record this spring and summer, the Bulldogs took a couple of games to find their scoring touch in Guelph and goaltender Drew Coleman was in a stingy mood all weekend, allowing just 14 goals through the six games he played. Coached by all-time Halton Hills Jr. B leading scorer Mike Dube and fellow Bulldogs Ryan Oldham and Jay Colangelo, the local peewees downed Orangeville 11-4 on Sunday to clinch the title. Preliminary round-- Halton Hills 3, Orangeville 2: Jacob Harris, Darren Raddysh, Adam Wiedemann (G); Kurtis Oldham, Daniel Nicolucci (A). Oakville 3, Halton Hills 2: Ben Nicolucci, Daniel Nicolucci (G); Sebastian Beckett (A). Halton Hills 10, Peterborough 4: Beckett (3G); Raddysh (2G); Wiedemann (G, 2A); Daniel Nicolucci, Oldham (G, A); Teagan Gilian, Ben Nicolucci (G); Devon de Langley (5A); Jake Perehiniak (2A); Connor Brown (A). Halton Hills 6, Whitby 2: Wiedemann (2G, A); Raddysh (G, 2A); Daniel Nicolucci, Harris (G, A); Oldham (G); Daryl Hanzelka, Brown (A). Halton Hills 5, Whitby 1: Brown (G, 3A); Oldham, Harris (G, A); Ben Nicolucci, Perehiniak (G); Dalton Evely, Raddysh (A). Championship-- Halton Hills 11, Orangeville 4: Liam Clare (2G, 3A); Ben Nicolucci, Jacob Harris (2G); Gilian (G, 2A); Daniel Nicolucci (G, A); Hanzelka, Wiedemann, Evely (G); Beckett, Brown, Oldham (2A); Raddysh, Lucas Barbosa, Kirk Riedstra, Drew Coleman (A). Make Your Move at Achilles Mazda in Acton 2007 Mazda6 Sedan, Sport Hatchback, Sport Wagon, and Mazdaspeed6 Purchase Financing for 60 Months* Lease APR for up to 36 Months* * Contact Achilles Mazda for Details 0% 357 Queen St. Acton Phone 519-853-0200 Toll free 866-620-3248 Only 12 Minutes Only minutes from Downtown from Milton Georgetown Plus $0 Payments for 90 Days!* www.achillesmazda.ca info@achillesmazda.ca