MITCHELL ADVOCATE ry Wolfe proves he can handle the hot corner brilliantly as he grabs this Heni ae at third for his Mitchell 9U OBA squat ad, during action from their playoff tournament in Keterson Park Aug. 9. Mitchell beat Saugeen Shores 31-13 in the game, their first of three wins before losing in the semi-finals to Kincardine, 7-4. Everett Douglas of the Mitchell 9U WOBA (Wolfe) baseball team protects himself from the throw to second on this play against Goderich during action from the year-end playoff WOBA tournament in Keterson Park in Mitchell Aug. 10. The Astros went unbeaten, including a 16-1 11 win over God- erich, to win the championship title. The team defeated Zurich 15-1 10 and Howick 16-14 in preliminary play, then edged both St. Marys and Howick once more by the same 13-12 scores to win the title. avDy BADER Elliott came up with the hit of the ahard two-run double down the line to fuel the rally, eventu- Astros having chance to win it in the eighth. Laverty reached base and moved to third by Pol before Denver Wernham stepped up to The coaching staff couldn’t ‘tbe happier with the team, and the huge strides everyone made over the se: eine * Mitchell entry, the Sim- plistic Lines 9U Runhart team, had . Astros finish as Senior League runners up ANDY BADER The Mitchell Senior Astros fin- ished the Midwestern Ontario Senior Baseball League season strong, coming away with a sec- ond-place finish in iaeee playoff tournament Aug 9-1 The Astros lost 2- s to the yeahs _WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2024 11 Jake Near delivers a pitch to the plate for the Mitchell Astros Sue recent Midwestern Ontario Ser faeeees League ely season actiot che Cooper diamond i in Storm i inthe in Kincar Re eens des tros were led by strong pitching, great defence and timely hitting, but ultimately fell short a their first ebay League ti -seeded Astros went 3-2 Shane Park. stros sty a the lar s season leaders from Byron finish as runners-up. ANDY BADER and reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases for Gardner, who came through with a single up the middle to score t two runs and k, but they in the both the second and third seeds in Woodstock and Kincardine, re- spectively. The Astros’ only losses the finals, allowing just two earned runs, one in the first and one in the second, while scattering seven hits over six innings. The Astros failed to capitalize on their six hits, stranding seven runners. Smitjes | had the lone extra base hit, with a two-out double in the third, but the Astros failed to cash in. Kee- gan Marsden walked twice, while Kevin Gardner and Jake Near each had two singles. in Clinton, as well, winning a pair of round robin games, 11-7 over Howick Green and a walk-off 13-12 victo- ry over Clinton #2 before falling 20-10 to St. Marys. The DG Eckert Construction 9U OBA team, meanwhile, also par- ticipated in their year end tourna- ment and rolled to three straight wins, 31-13 over eee Shores, 11-3 over Owen Sound and 28-10 over Saugeen Shores once again before losing 7-4 to Kincardine in In Near took the mound, throwin seven shutout innings before falling apart in the bottom of the a failed to hold onin the bottom half. ig. 11 in Kincardiog? falling 2-0 to the regd the afternoon game against sev+ enth-seed Listowel, going five an early 4-0 lead after Jake Near ithadouble, but am. led the way with three hits each, with snes from both it} dBi Derek Smitjes and Marsden blewit ith back-t Munoz. Facing a must-win game Sat- urday against their third-seeded hosts from Kincardine, the As- tros turned to tl their ta ey in the bottom of the fifth. Veteran pitcher Rick Boon came in and threw two solid innings of relief, ious ‘a playoff berth. in the Aug. 11 eno the As- odstock, Mitchell ing 5-0 after two innings, bt ae out rally in the top of the third sparked the comeback as Derek and the bats stayed pet ta the first inning, the first four batters reach- ing base while the team recorded Smitjesand two-out walks, setting the table for Jake Near, who doubled to left field scoring both. Three consec- utive one-out singles from Brett Thompson, Bryan Munoz, and Dave Haggitt loaded the bases for the Smitjes brothers. Nate walked and Derek washit bya pitch, bring- ing the Astros within one. Mars- dto the plate and lined eighth, allowing hitting thefithbatter oftheinning to score the winner ina 3-2heartbreaker. nee gave up six hits and struck out two while, on offence, the Astros’ bats fell silent a single to left field to score Hag- gitt and Nate ps dies putting the Astros ahead for good in an even- tual 9-8 triumph. eae settled in, turning a two-run lead over to for a 4-0 lead, more than enough for a 5-1 win. Haggitt spun a terpiece on the mound, allowing one run on three hits in the com- plete game. Nate Smitjes had three hits while Derek iy Munoz and Marsden each tallied two. The first-year Mitchell Brewer’, meanwhile, went 1-2 in their pool in the playoff tournament, losing 7-6 to Woodstock before reboun¢- tothe playoffs, the Brewers fell 3-2. Alli inall, it wasa solid showing by arsden was walked, Near bunted Hood-Tidman took the ball in until the top of the eighth. With ixth-place ey hae aa #4 % 1 ;ht-team league, on second base as a ghost runner, the door shut on the Cubs. playing senior ball for the first time asa group. Se