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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, June 11, 2010 · 38 Late homer shocks Hawks as Irish wins baseball title By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF As the final strike sank into the catcher's mitt, Mike McIntyre slumped against the fence. On the field the Notre Dame Fighting Irish tossed their gloves high in the air and rushed to mob Scott Wilcox, who had belted the decisive two-run homer that gave Notre Dame a thrilling 5-4 win in the Halton baseball final. McIntyre, the red fingers of his batting gloves interlocked on the back of his head, stared at the ground for several minutes. He had no interest in watching Notre Dame celebrate the title for the second straight year -- especially given that just 10 minutes earlier, he and his Loyola Hawks teammates had been just one out away from celebrating the title themselves. "That was rough," said McIntyre, who had three hits and drove in a pair of runs. "We got our hopes up. It was so close, one out away." Loyola actually had two chances to avenge last year's 4-2 loss to the Irish in the Halton final. After retiring the first two batters of the seventh on grounders, Daniel Veres kept Notre Dame's hopes alive with a base hit. Wilcox followed, and with a strong wind blowing straight out to centre field, he launched a high drive. McIntyre initially didn't think it had enough to get out of the park but as it cleared the fence "my heart just dropped. It was very shocking. But it was a nice hit." "We had great kids. We had a great season," said Loyola coach Dave McIntyre. "But two years in a row losing (in the final), I'm not going to lie, it hurts. You can see it in the face of every one of these kids." Especially after riding a rollercoaster of emotion over the last three innings. Tied 1-1 in the fifth, McIntyre led off with a single and Patrick Griffin then appeared to take a pitch off his batting helmet. But the umpire ruled that the ball hit his bat before his helmet. Two pitches later he hit a tapper back to the mound and the Irish turned a double play. Instead of two on with none out when Adrian Shakie singled, they had none on with two out and came out of the inning empty-handed. Notre Dame then took a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth but the Hawks staged a rally of their own. Singles by Spencer Pecar and Tomas Rincon and a walk to Evan DiMichele loaded the bases with none out. David Venturi earned an RBI the hard way, taking a pitch off the elbow and after Jason Darichuk's fielder's choice tied the game, McIntyre lined a single to centre to put the Hawks back in front. Notre Dame escaped further damage getting a force at the plate before a grounder to short ended the inning. Even after Notre Dame regained the lead, the Hawks had a chance in the seventh when Pecar belted a double to straight-away centre and moved up on a passed ball. Representing the tying run, Pecar would be stranded after Wilcox got an infield pop up and a pair of strikeouts. See Hawks page 39 NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER HURLIN' HAWK: Loyola's Mike Morley unleashes a pitch during Thursday's Halton boys' baseball championship game at Nelson Park in Burlington. Notre Dame's Scott Wilcox hit a two-out, two-run homer in the last inning to give the Irish a 5-4 win. Nemesek's biggest challenge came after he opened up a big lead. "For me, sometimes when I get into a lead, I get lazy and let my opponent come back in the match," he said. "But I focused all the way. I didn't let him come back so I was pretty happy about that." "Watching him play, he was so determined," McLaughlin said. Oakville nearly had a sweep of the boys' singles titles. Will Pigott of T.A. Blakelock won three matches to advance to the high school boys' title game where he was edged 8-7 (7-4) by Banting Secondary's Zach Costa. "It was a bit of a heartbreaker," the sil- Blakelock student second in high school division Van Koeverden locks up national team spot Continued from page 37 ver medalist said. "I had one championship break point. I was up 7-6 but I had a couple of unforced errors I'd like to have back. I was really happy, though. My goal was to get to the semis so to get to the final was a really big thrill." Pigott reached his goal with an 8-2 win over Jean Vanier's Dylan Hall and an 8-3 victory over Vaughan Secondary's Eric Majer. A fifth-place finisher last year, Pigott guaranteed himself a medal with an 8-3 win over Liem Ngo of Forest Heights. "In the semi, I was playing the best tennis I've ever played," said Pigott, who didn't have his serve broken the entire tournament. "I was a little nervous in the final but I fed off the momentum I had going through that (semifinal) match." Pigott, 17, also got an early introduction to the sport, starting when he was just four. It was his mom that introduced him to the game and they still occasionally play doubles together. Holy Trinity's Derek Emerson and Bruno Paric narrowly missed a bronze medal after being edged 8-7 (7-5) by Zack Green and Nick Somody of Toronto's Northern in boys' doubles. Sam Moulson and Sam Farris of White Oaks also lost a close bronze medal match, falling 8-6 to Dylan Crimmins and Karishma Taneja-Lucas in open mixed doubles. The Thomas Bathory Home Selling System For pre-recorded information Call 1-800-353-1048 anytime, 24 hours a day. Your Your Home Advertised Until it's Sold! OPEN HOUSE SUN 1-3 2039 GRENVILLE DR SOLD THOMAS BATHORY, SALES REPRESENTATIVE SOLD INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED Sales Representative NINA BOKOR BEAUTIFUL RENOVATED! Upgraded home in demand "Wedgewood Creek" on an oversized 113" foot lot! SUTTON GROUP New kitchen with granite countertopcs, all SIGNATURE bathrooms have been renovated. Master bedroom w/ full ensuite & sep. shower. OFF (905) 286-5888 Hardwood floors, wood burning fireplace. New broadloom. Prof.finished basement. Call me for a Free No Obligation Market Evaluation of Your Home! Sold for 98% of Asking Price in West Oak Trails! Call me for a Free No Obligation Market Evaluation of Your Home! Thomas Does It Again & Sold This River Oaks Beauty! Realty Enterprises Inc. Brokerage 905-845-2200 Adam van Koeverden has secured a spot on the Canadian team for the upcoming world paddling championships. The 28-year-old Oakville native clinched the spot by winning silver in the kayaking singles 1,000-metre event at the final World Cup race last weekend in Duisburg, Germany. Van Koeverden finished the three-event World Cup circuit with six medals, two gold, three silver and one bronze. He also turned in a fourth-place finish in Germany in the 500m. "My fatigue showed a little bit in my final race today," van Koeverden, competing for the fourth time in five weeks, said on his blog. "The K1 500m, usually my strongest event, I just couldn't get off the line today." Still, he was happy with his performance in Europe over the past month. "The goal of this trip was to simply race hard and identify weaknesses with a focus on the World Champions in August, and of course secure my spot for the world championships," he said. "I feel great about my performances, and I'm stoked for Team Canada as we've had so many great performances over the past few weeks." Burloak Canoe Club member Mark Oldershaw won a bronze medal in the C-1 1,000m, earning his fourth World Cup medal of the season. Oldershaw can lock up a spot on the world team by finishing ahead of Thomas Hall at the second national team trials in July. Oldershaw was eighth in the C-1 500m. Burloak's Brady Reardon teamed with Rhys Hill of Ottawa to finish fifth in the K-2 500m.