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C 6 - The Oakville Beaver, W ednesd ay July 17, 2002 Oakville all-stars hold their own at prestigious U.S. tournament Oakville's Little League 13-year-old all stars were more than competitive at a Little League tournament, held on the estate of mys tery writer John Grisham where six beautifully designed baseball diamonds are sculptured into the lush greenery of the rolling hills of Virginia. The Oakville team forged a 1-2 record at the second annual Cove Creek Classic which included some of the finest U.S. teams in their age category. Add to that, an exhibition victory along the way, 7-3 against a Washington Little League team, and the Oakville team gained a .500 record. Perhaps even more importantly was the experience they gained, both on and off the field. In Washington, they toured the Smithsonian Institution, Lincoln Memorial, Viet Nam Wall, Lincoln Memorial and the W ashington Monument. And in Virginia they managed to visit the world famous caves in the Shenandoah Valley. On the field, of course, they were privileged to go up against some of the best players the U.S. has to offer. "We met some very strong, competitive teams," said manager and coach Dave Downer, after the final game. "It was a real learning experience. One of the teams who we didn't play against (Cove Creek) will be in Ottawa for a tournament in late August. "We hope to put the experience gained in the Classic tournament to good use." Oakville opened up with a 5-2 win over Reston Cavaliers and then dropped a couple -- 5-1 to Waynesboro Stars and 5-2 to Helicott City. Oakville outfielder Sergio Lujan, after a highlight reel catch of a fly ball in right centre, prompted this remark from the Helicott scorekeeper: "I've never, ever seen a catch like that one." Here's a tournament summary: OAKVILLE 5, Reston 2 Oakville quickly made it clear the visitors from the north would be no pushovers as they chased the Reston pitcher with three runs in the first inning. They were manufactured on a Scott DeGroot single, a Chris Stewart walk and a two-RBI double by Roger Lambert, followed by A.J. O'Brodovich's RBI single. Lambert also contributed a 2-RBI single to increase the gap to 5-2 before the Cavaliers got one back in the fourth inning. But with two on and none out, winning pitcher Paul Jurgaitis (5k's) got three successive fly ball outs to snuff out any further runs. Waynesboro 5, OAKVILLE 1: Oakville again opened the scoring with Roger Lambert getting the green light on a 3-0 pitch and promptly singling home Alex Camall (single). Despite being out-hit 6-5 by Oakville, howev er, Waynesboro salted the game away with an awesome five-run third inning, including a grand slam with two out. Helicott City 5, OAKVILLE 2: a close game most of the way with Oakville opening the scoring in the first inning with Lambert's field e r's choice scoring DeGroot. Helicott went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the third and Oakville evened it up at 2-2 in the fourth inning with Paul Jurgaitis scoring on a passed ball. With a time restraint (lh 45 min) and the rain falling, Oakville couldn't score in the top of the fifth, but the boys from Helicott City, playing inspiring ball, forged three runs in their half for the 5-2 win. Minor midget A's score 8-5 win over defending Ontario champ Last Thursday at Oakville Park, the Oakville A's minor midget rep team defeated a strong team from Guelph 8-5. Guelph was last year's Ontario representative at the national championship, and had easily defeated the A's in the first game of the season for both squads. The A's received offensive contributions from six different players as they built up an 8-0 lead, heading into the seventh. Vic Oreskovich led the way with two home runs and 3 RBIs in his first two at bats, while Ryan Reiter enjoyed a perfect 3-for-3 night, knocking in three runs as well. Other contributors at the plate were Jon Nicholl, Ian Miersch, Matt Amantea, Mike Burgess and Steve Reinhardt, each with hits. Conlan Gassi started on the mound ound for the A's and after allowing a lead-off double, held Guelph to one hit and no runs heading into the seventh. After retiring the lead-off hitter in the seventh, Guelph rallied for five runs -- four of them unearned. Gassi went the distance for the win and while only registering one strikeout, only issued three walks, meaning the defence was making the plays behind him. The A's continue to prepare for the Ontario playdowns which will be held here in Oakville starting August 16. The next action for the A's is Thursday in Burlington against the perennially tough Burlington Bulls. The A's home schedule continues next Thursday against Brampton, and Friday against Burlington. Game time is 7:30 at Oakville Par Park. Suicide squeeze bunt by Mosca paves the way for championship win against West Mountain A gutsy suicide squeeze bunt by James mes Mosca drove home the winning run to lead the Oakville A's peewee tier 2 team to victory in the double-A championship game of the Dominos Pizza Classic Tournament held in Hamilton over the July 5-7 weekend. Mosca's bunt allowed the A's to capture the tournament after an excel lent weekend of baseball that saw the A's split four preliminary round games with wins against York (Toronto) and Mahoney Park (Hamilton) and losses to Guelph and Toronto Playgrounds. On Sunday, the A's, behind the shutout pitching of Ray Alexander (game MVP), Nolan Nicholls and Ryan Foley, beat York 10-0 for the right to face West Mountain (Hamilton) in the championship game. The title game was one for the ages, a seesaw battle between two very evenly matched, tired but determined teams. West Mountain took the early lead against an exhausted but gutsy Ray Alexander who pitched 11 innings over the weekend in oppressive heat. As they have all season, the A's demonstrated their resiliency by fight ing back to take a 4-2 lead behind the clutch hitting of Thomas Canning, Ray Alexander, Robert Eull and Matt Kennedy. West Mountain was a worthy oppo nent, however, and tied the game at 44. In the fateful 7th inning Alexander led off with his second hit of the game and advanced to third base. Third base coach Tim Stack then made the call that caught everyone, including his fellow coaches, off guard. Mosca laid down a perfect bunt to give Oakville the go-ahead and subse quent winning run . Ryan Foley pitched a flawless 6th and 7th inning to earn the win for the A's. On the basis of his exceptional defence at second base and effective pitching, Nolan Nicholls was the MVP M' of the championship game . The coaching staff (Tim Stack, John Kennedy, Mark Foley) were thrilled with the performance of the A's throughout the tournament with each team member making a valuable contribution during each of the games. Special mention goes to Robert Eull (10 RBI ), Ray Alexander (11 innings pitched , .818 batting aver age), Tom Canning (5 R B I) and Matt Kennedy (.625 batting average). The team's pitching staff (Nicholls, Alexander, Foley, Kennedy, Mosca and Andrew Barlow) was in top form and supported by an offence that also included the thundering bats of Brandon Kelly, Chris McCracken, Andrew Chambers and Rory Stack. The tournament victory was the continuation of a dream season for the A's who are 12-2-2 in their league play and were finalists in an earlier tourna ment in Guelph. Peewee A's in the midst of a dream season. COACHES: John Kennedy, Mark Foley and Tim Stack. BACK ROW: Andrew Chambers, Ray Alexander, Robert Eull and Ryan Foley. MIDDLE ROW: Nolan Nicholls, Rory Stack, James Mosca, Brandon Kelly and Chris McCracken. FRONT ROW: Andrew Barlow, Thomas Canning and Matt Kennedy. T h e U lt im a t e S u b s c r ip tio n O f f e r one SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM N am e:, Address: Telephone: Credit Card: L o w v O le G o lf C o u rs e " o r C a n a d a 's W o n d e r la n d * O O VISA amx O MC S im p ly b y s u b s c r ib in g to f o r 1 y e a r a n d y o u c o u ld W I N $ 500.00 w o r t h o f g o lf e q u ip m e n t ! * * Card # :--------------------- THE O W E BEAVER Expiry D ate:______________ Q Cheque Enclosed ^ Act now... Limited Supply! Som e con d ition s ap ply C u rren t subscribers are eligible w h en an additional 1 year su b scrip tion is p u rch ased . C o st o f S u b scrip tion $72 56 $ Value o f Pass I p refe r to receive: (select one choice) O W o n d e rla n d Passes * (^ ) Low ville Passes F a x 3 3 7 - 5 5 5 7 or. 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