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ITT PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, July 20, 1993 - 31 SRE RHE The Midget Merchant Fastball team captured the gold at the Guelph Midget Tournament held on the weekend. Pictured are the members of the winning team. Front row from left are: Jason McBride, Darrell Vander Slagt, Jeff Card, Chad Venning, Brad Moase, Steve Laird and Jason Cochrane. Back row (from left to right) Bob Vander Slagt, coach, Paul Lin- ton, Denis Smith, Scott MacLennan, Duane Empringltam, Wayne Venning, coach, Grant Kay, Todd Smart and Ron Redman, coach. Merchant Midgets win gold at Guelph tourney i: : The Merchant Midget fast- ball report is sponsored this week by Haugen's, J.B. Indus- tries, and Mike Tobin Photogra- phy. This past weekend, the Port Perry Merchants participated in the Guelph Midget tourna- ment against teams from eight other centres. The excellent of- fence and defence of the Port " players allowed them to win three close games and win the gold as the Red Chevron 1993 Champions. The first game was against Kitchener and Port was ahead 5-2 in the fifth, feeling quite comfortable with their lead. The Kitchener bats suddenly came to life in the sixth, and with some well-placed bloopers, were able to tie the score. It re- mained at 5-5 until the bottom of the seventh inning. Moase on with a walk, Card with a single, and two out, Empringham loft- ed a long home run to drive in three runs and win the game 8- 5. Jeff Card pitched well, struck out seven and allowed only three earned runs. The goal of the gold was still alive. In the next game, Port faced Fingal, a team which had de- feated their previous tourna- ment opponent 12-2. Fingal came into the game with lots of enthusiasm and the M&rchants knew that they had to be extra sharp against a good pitching and hitting team. Port broke the game open in the fourth by scoring five runs, with two home runs off the bat of J.C. Haymaker. The final score was 9-3, and the Merchants ad- vanced into the Championship round against the home team, Guelph. The strong pitching of Denis Smith obviously confused the Fingal players who were swinging wildly, becoming frus- trated, and losing heart. Smith struck out six and allowed no walks. The goal of the gold was now a game closer. In the Championship game, Guelph, with lots of fan sup- port, threw a scaredinto the Mer- chants by going ahead 5-1 in the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, the Merchants' players showed their determination to win and put six runs on the board. With bases loaded, Smart hit a triple and drove in three runs to go ahead 7-5. Ven- ning staked the team to this lead before being relieved by lefty Smith. Vander Slagt's home run late in the game proved to be the winner as Guelph was able to cross the plate twice in the seventh, and left two men on base before Port could get the all-important fi- nal out. The final score was 8-7 for the Port Perry Merchants. The key play in the seventh saw Smart pick up a ball in right field and tag the runner at first as he mistakenly made an er- ant turn toward second which was already occupied. The gold was finally a reality! A large part of the Mer- chants' success is due to the loy- al fans who usually go to rain- filled tournaments, but who, on this weekend, thoroughly en- joyed the hot sunny weather, the pleasant surroundings and the opportunity to socialize as families. Hitters for the week: Card - 2 walks, 2 singles, RBI; Empring- ham - 3 singles, double, home run, 6 RBI; JC Haymaker - 2 walks, 3 home runs, 5 RBI; Kay - single; Laird - 2 walks, 4 sin- gles, double, home run, 3 RBI; MacLennan - 6 singles, triple, 3 RBI; McBride - 2 walks, single; Moase - 4 walks, 2 singles, RBI; Smart - 2 walks, single, 2 trip- 3 ¥ wr bo les, 3 RBI; Smith - 2 walks; Vander Slagt - 6 singles, dou- ble, home run, 4 RBI; Venning - home run: In league play last week, the Merchants lost both games to Stouffville and Oshawa BB. The schedule for the coming week is: Tuesday, July 20 - Greenbank vs Merchants at 8:30 p.m.; Tuesday, July 27 - Eagles vs Merchants at 8:30 p.m.; Wednesday, July 28 - Merchants vs Bowmanville at 8:30 p.m. Provincial championships at Scugog diamonds Port Perry Minor Softball has been given the honor of hosting not one but two Ontario Provin- cial Championships for 1993. The Merchant .coached by Wayne Venning, Ron Redman and Bob Vander Slagt, will be held Aug. 21-22. The Legion Squirts, coached by Dave Dalton, Pat Versage and Dennis Ashton, will be held Aug. 28-29. : Circle your calendar for these dates as you won't want to miss these special weekends. We will have about eight teams from each division visit our beautiful town from all over Ontario. The Squirts are boys ages 11 and 12 and the Midgets are boys ages 17,18 and 19. Our Midgets won the All- Ontario last year and will try their best to keep the trophy in Port Perry again this year. The majority of the squirt team won the All-Ontario in Midgets, 1991 as they were playing in the Mite division. Good luck to both teams as I know you will make all citizens of Scugog Township very proud as you represent your home town of Port Perry. I would like to thank the Port Perry Legion for their support with the Squirts. And to the fol- lowing merchants for support- ing the Midgets: R.B. Moase, C.A.; Galley Fish & Chips; Ives Antiques, Haugen's Barbecue, J.B.K. Industries; Van & Truck 'World; Country Style Donuts; I.G.A.; Edwards Construction; Cine-Max Video; Roger Ten- nant Automotive; Scugog Citi- zen; Trader Sams Roadhouse and Mike Tobin Photography. If anyone would like to volun- teer time or sponsorship for these tournaments please call Carolyn Best, O.A.S.A., Con- venor 985-2677. Seagrave Tykes win tournament While the Blue Jays were los- ing, the Seagrave Park Tyke baseball team were on their way to winning the 1993 divi- sion championship. The Victor- ia-Brock Baseball League South' Division Tournament 'was hosted by Seagrave this past weekend. a It was perfect weather for the, teams participating, Beaverton, Cannington, Wood- ville and Oakwood each entered two teams, along with teams from Sunderland, Ops, Little Britain and Seagrave. This was Seagrave's third season in the league and with _last year's loss in the champion- ship game, the team was deter- mined to capture the title. In the first game Friday eve- ning, Seagrave had a convinc- ing 16-1 win over Little Britain. Jeff Slute pitched three innings of shut-out ball with three strikeouts and Ryan Fraser in two innings of relief struck out four. Double plays were key to helping the team out of some tight spots in the second and third 'innings. In the second, with runners on second and third, Slute fired to second to catch the lead-off runner and Rob Privett alertly threw the runner out going to home. Fraser and Slute both went two for three at the plate and a bases loaded double by Jason Whitworth and bases loaded triple by Matt McGarry were the key to the offence. In the second game, Seagrave kept up the pace with a 10-4 win over Sunderland. Fraser had three strikeouts in three in- nings and Slute in relief struck out two and forced a pop-up fly to close out the fourth and final inning. Offensively, Fraser, Whit- worth and Privett went two for three while Tim Wray's double Turnto Page 34 The home team was the winner of the Victoria-Brock Baseball League Seagrave Tyke Tournament held Saturday at Seagrave Park. Winning the championship were (front, from left) Robert Privett, Matt McGarry, Russell Madill, Jordan Hughson, Ryan Fraser, Jeff Siute, (middle row) Tim Wray, Jason Whitworth, Cameron MacDonald, Ryan Szewerda, John Bar- ry, Jason Johansen, and coaching staff (back row) Al Wray, Karl Szewerda, and Bill Siute. } PT bl. ali al tl eg A rl Pl APE Nd A PRODI a? TR <p Sp