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RY ed Fi rst All-Ontario Midget title since 1975 Success, finally! for the Port Merchants This week's report for the Merchant Midget fastball club is brought to you by Galley Fish and Seafood and Mike Tobin Photography. Success, finally! For the first time since 1975, a Port Perry Midget team has won the Ontario Provincial championship. The Midget Merchants did it in superb fashion over the that was headed for home country, only to be snared on a fine catch by the cnetre fielder who leaped high in the air. Had he missed it, the ball was headed for another area code. Excitement or the field and in the stands erupted as the Port players and fans realized that victory was theirs. For coach A Ron Red it broke a drought taking four ig games for the coveted title at the tournament in New Hamburg. When the OASA convenor said at the opening ceremonies "let the games begin," the team thought he had said "let the rains begin," as things got off to a soggy start\with a two hour rain delay. But the wind and sun soon "dried the field out and the tournament continued without further interruption. Port moved into the championship game with victories over Mitchell, Owen Sound and St. Clements. And it was against this same squad from St. Clements that Port scored an 8-5 victory to clinch the tournament and the QASA championship banner. Jason Cochrane got the team going in the first with a single, and he came home on an RBI double by Darryl VanderSlagt. But the big inning for Port was the third when the broke the game wide open with five runs that gave them a 6-3 Grant Kay and Darryl VanderLigt reached on a walk and a single, and were moved over by a bunt sacrifice from Jason McBride. Steve Laird delivered a double that scored both runners, and that was followed by two back-to-back doubles by Scott MacLennan and VanderSlagt. The Merchants got the rest of their runs in the fourth with Kay and VanderLigt reaching on a walk and single, only to be brought home on a 2 RBI single by Cochran 8, Chad Venning got the win in this one, A three, ne, giv Steve Stiles un-loaded with the hit of the game, a rocket of more than 20 years. The last time he won OASA was in 1967 as a Pee Wee player. And for Wayne Venning, the dry spell was nearly as long. His last win was in 1968 when he coached a Port Juvenile team. Venning and an have taken teams to the all-Ontario four of the last five years and finally got a winner, Merchants opened the tournament with a 4-1 victory over Mitchell, the team replacing Paris which was unable to attend. Vander Ligt got on with a single, stole a base and moved all the way home on a throwing error. In the 4th, he and Laird cracked singles and were driven home when Jason Cochrane blasted a three run homer. Mitchell got its lone run in the final inning, Jeff Card went the distance on the mound for Port and turned in a fine performance. He fanned seven, yielded just three hits and only one walk. Game two against Tara (Owen Sound) was a much tougher outing for Port that ended in a 5-4 victory. And Port went up 4-1 in the 3rd when Laird ' and Cochrane reached on a hit and a hit pitch. They both scored when VanderSlagt ground out and Tara served some th: errors. Tara got two in the 6th to make it close again, but Card sealed things for Port with a "no question about it" home run to give the team the extra Tus margin that victory, . Tara came back.with their fourth run to make it 5-4, but - Denis Smith spun some. magic " the hill. With first and second, . In game three Sunday morning, Port faced St. Clements, a team also un- defeated so far in the tourney. St. Clements struck early for a 2-0 lead on a triple by the pitcher (he likes curve balls) that cashed two on base. But Jeff Card settled down on the mound and shut down the opposition the rest of the way. Port was kept off the board until the 5th when Kay and McBride got on via a double and a catcher interference call. They scored on a double by VanderLigt and infield hit by Coclirane. This game remained tense and close as the fans paced behind the stands, catching only a peek at the action from time to time. . St. Clements threatened in the 6th with two on and none out, but Port retired three straight to snuff out the fire. And in the final inning, Card got the batter to hit to a force out with runners on base to end the contest. Card fanned ten, gave up just four hits and two earned runs. The entire team played well in the field behind him, but certainly the catch of the day was made by Kay in the 5th that broke the hearts of the opposition. " Coaches Wayne Venning, © Bob VanderSlagt and Ron Redman wish to express their sincere appreciation to all the parents who stood fully behind the team and contributed in so many ways to the success so far this season. And it was nice to see the No. 1 Gator (as in Phil McBride) back on his feet and encouraging the players in his usual vocal way. In league play last week, the Merchants defeated Markham 12-7, then lost a tough one 7-4 to Aurora. Perhaps the boys were saving something for the weekend. (see stats sheet for batters of the week) Fresh from their marvellous OASA championship win last weekend, the guys would like nothing better than to cap the season in similar fashion this coming weekend (Sept. 4- 5) as the Merchants host the League tournament in Port Perry. Fans are encouraged to come out to the lakefront diamonds to see the all- Ontario champions in action against the best in their League. best stuff working to help ii Pitchers Jeff Card, Chad Venning and Denis Smith had their Port Perry Merchants win the All-Ontario Midget fastball title in New Hamburg. The team went undefeated In 4 games. (see story) With a record of two wins and two defeats Mites miss out at OASA Ford Mites go "2 for 4" in On As t 29 and 30, Port Perry's fastball mite all-stars attended the provincial ye at Spri st | ition our squad finished the event with a 2 win, 2 loss record. In our first game against Mark we were led by "Boomer" Richardson's 17 strikeout "no-hitter" to a 6-1 win. ia big second fing wih in a secon Braden double to left had at 2 walks SR and we finished with a 7-2 loss. The tough Sydenham pitcher uso in by Mark (dni) walked to first. Qur third game of the day immediately and was against St. Mary's. Mark groove and Tovoraed 1 strikeouts to lead us to a 9-8 win, Mark also a however and Matt, Mark and As had single walks in this three pitchers combined for 9 strikeouts, Braden made two fine defensive plays with a diving catch of a oul ball pop-up near the screen as well as a throw from his knees for a force out at ail ih i i Hi ! i i i 4 Hh iis i