The
Alvinston Indians traveled to Ohsweken on the weekend, for the
14 team 2012 ISC Ontario Challenge Cup.
Game #1 was Saturday at 9:00am, and
the Indians squared off against the Niagara Falls Can-Am.
Alvinston opened the scoring in the third inning, when they
plated 3 runs on 2 hits, with 3 Can-Am errors. The Indians added
one more run in the 5th inning, and cruised to a 4-0 win. Kyle
Crawford was the winning pitcher for the Indians, tossing 7
innings of shutout ball, while allowing 6 hits and 4 walks, with
11 strikeouts.
Jeff Ingram was 2/4 in the game for
the Indians.
Game #2 was Saturday at 1:00pm, with the Indians squaring off
against the Ponsonby Sting, who were led by young right handed
pitcher Michael Roote. Crawford took the mound again for the
Indians, and the two pitchers would provide the onlookers with a
quality pitchers duel. Ponsonby counted the first run of the
game in the top of the 5th inning, and appeared to be headed to
a 1-0 win, until the Indians had other plans in their last at
bat of the game in the 7th inning. Chris Drew singled to lead
off the inning, and 2 wild pitches got Drew over to third base.
He eventually scored on a sacrifice fly to centre field by Cody
Campbell, to knot the game at 1's, and send the contest to extra
innings and the international tiebreaker rule. Both teams were
scoreless in the 8th inning, but in the 9th inning, Ponsonby
pulled ahead 2-1, when a high chopper to short took a funny hop,
which allowed the run to score from third. Again, Alvinston
needed to score a run in their half of the 9th inning, and they
did just that. With one out, Aaron Stocking walked to put
runners on second and first. A ground ball was hit to the second
basemen, and they attempted to turn the double play to end the
game, but an aggressive slide at second by Stocking forced the
shortstop to throw the ball wild to first, allowing Jeff Ingram
to score from second to tie the game, courtesy of a Cody
Campbell fielder's choice RBI. Once again, both teams would go
scoreless in the 10th, and Crawford shut down the Sting in the
top of the 11th inning. In the home half of the 11th inning,
with Kyle Vink at second base; Jeff Lyons walked, to put runners
at first and second. Vink was able to advance to third via a
pass ball, and then Chris Drew delivered the game ending RBI
single to score Vink, to allow the Indians to win the exciting
game, by the final score of 3-2. Crawford tossed all 11 innings,
with 5 hits allowed, 3 walks issued, and 11 strikeouts to earn
the well deserved marathon win. Even more impressive, was the
fact that he allowed no hits after the 6th inning, including no
hits in the 4 extra innings. Roote was the hard luck loser for
Ponsonby, allowing only 4 hits, while walking 7, and striking
out 7 Indians batters, in 10 1/3 innings on the mound. Andy
Triest and Chris Drew accounted for all the Alvinston hits in
the contest with two a piece, while Drew scored a run and drove
in the game winning run.
Game #3 put Alvinston up against the Wiarton Nationals, who were
last year's Ontario Challenge Cup Champions. The Nationals
jumped over a fatigued Crawford in his third game of the day, en
route to what ended up being an 8-1 win in favour of Wiarton.
Jeff Lyons pitched the 6th inning for Alvinston allowing the
final two runs, which cut the game off at the end of six
innings. Andy Triest was 2/2 for Alvinston, while Jeff Lyons had
the only other hit for the Indians, as Nationals starter Scott
Smith threw a three-hitter, and was tough as always, fanning 12
Indians batters in 6 innings of work.
That sent the Indians to Sunday
morning at 11am against the Kitchener Diamond Jaxx. The Indians
would have to reel off 3 straight wins to get them back from the
loser's side to the championship game. The Indians hit the score
sheet first, when Stocking singled in the 2nd inning, advanced
to second base via a wild pitch, and scored on a Alix Chisholm
RBI single. The Alvinston squad would add one more run in the
3rd inning, when Lyons walked, and scored on an RBI double by
Ingram to the left field corner down the foul line. That was it.
Kitchener threatened in a couple innings, but were never able to
muster the big hit off of Crawford, as the Indians starter went
on to his second shutout of the tournament, where he allowed 4
hits and 2 walks, with 9 strikeouts in 7 innings of work. The
final score was 2-0 for Alvinston. Hoffman pitched effectively
for the Diamond Jaxx, but suffered the loss.
With the win, the Indians would then
face the Sweaburg Crush. Once again, Crawford took the mound,
while Sweaburg countered with Todd Winkworth. Both pitchers were
effective, and the game remained tight for the duration of the
contest. Cody Campbell was hit by a pitch with one out in the
first inning for Alvinston, and then with two out, consecutive
singles by Jeff Ingram and Chris Drew plated Campbell for the
opening run of the game. In the top of the third however, the
Crush would square matters, but the Indians retook the lead by
scoring another run in the bottom of the third inning. This time
Campbell singled to lead off the inning, and with one out an
Ingram walk put runners on first and second, before Drew hit his
second RBI of the game, as he singled to put the Indians back
out in front by a run. The Crush would come back in the next
half inning and tie the game yet again, when consecutive singles
to start the inning, and a one out sacrifice fly tied the game.
Neither team was able to score in the 5th and 6th innings, and
Crawford shut the Crush down in the top of the 7th inning,
setting the scene for perhaps another late game win for the
Indians. The Indians did just that, when Andy Triest tripled to
left field, and then scored on a sacrifice fly to centre field
by Joe Triest, for what was the winning run in a thrilling 3-2
win for Alvinston. Winkworth was the hard luck loser for
Sweaburg, while Crawford collected his fourth win on the
weekend. Crawford went 7 innings, allowing 2 earned runs, 7
hits, 1 hit batsman, and striking out 9.
The win against Sweaburg sent the
Indians to the semi-final against the Innerkip Eagles, with the
winner going on to face a very fresh Wiarton team in the
Championship game. Crafty veteran Tim Neil took the mound for
Innerkip against Crawford for Alvinston in this game. For
Alvinston, a big hit early set the tempo in this game. Innerkip
was able to score early with a single run off of Crawford in the
1st inning. But in the bottom of the first inning, Campbell
reached first via a fielder's choice, Lyons then followed with a
walk, and Ingram did what he does with men on base, as he
crushed a 3 run homerun off of Neil to put the Indians up 3-1.
That was it. Both teams would put runners in scoring position
for 3 other innings in the game, but neither team changed the
score, as the Indians would advance to the Championship game
with their 3-1 win. Crawford went the distance again, tossing 7
innings of 1 run ball (an unearned run), with 5 hits and 2
walks, while fanning 4 Eagles swingers.
In the championship game, the Alvinston Indians would face off
against the Wiarton Nationals for the second time in the
tournament. It was Crawford yet again for Alvinston, with the
Nationals countering with silky smooth veteran Scott Smith.
Smith was dominant yet again for the Nationals, allowing only
one batter more than the minimum. Alvinston could muster only 1
hit, a solo homer by Lyons that had them in the lead until the
bottom of the third, when Wiarton tied the game, and then
counted single runs in the 4th and 6th innings, to win 3-1.
Crawford went the distance for Alvinston, allowing 3 earned runs
in 6 innings of work, while allowing 8 hits and 2 walks, and
fanning 7 batters.
All in all, the Indians went 5-2 in Ohsweken in the 2012 version
of the ISC Ontario Challenge Cup, playing back to back to back
to back games on Sunday, bowing out in the Championship game, to
a well deserving champion in the Wiarton Nationals. The Indians
had 17 runs for on the weekend, with 16 runs against. They
didn't hit terribly well as a team, but scored enough runs in
many occasions, thanks to young starter Kyle Crawford, who kept
the opposing teams off the score sheet, and giving the team an
opportunity to win games. Crawford pitched 50 innings of ball on
the weekend, finishing with a 5-2 record on the weekend, while
allowing 43 hits with 2 shutout performances. He had 15 walks
and 57 strikeouts, and a 1.54 earned run average on the weekend.
Good team defence, great pitching, and scrappy runs when needed
contributed to their success on the weekend. Crawford's
battery-mate, Cody Campbell, caught all seven games as well,
which cannot be overlooked in the team's success.
The Indians close out the season with 16 win and 14 losses in
tournament play, as they attended 6 competitive tournaments this
season. They currently hold a 21-6 record in league play, and
will face the St. Thomas Storm in the 2012 St. Thomas & District
Major Fastball League Finals, with St. Thomas always providing
excellent competition in what should be a great series.
