WE. ARE. THE. CHAMPIONS
Wow, what a
way to finish a great season! Our U14 Girls Rep team took home the Southwest League
title this past weekend in Lasalle. We are so proud of these young ladies and
their accomplishments this season. All year long they’ve displayed great
effort, sportsmanship, perseverance, work ethic, a willingness to learn and
above all a love for the game. This has been a special season for us with a
very special group of young ladies. We are so proud of how you’ve conducted
yourself on and off the field, and the winning part was fun too!
Here's a brief recap of the Championship Weekend.
Round Robin Play – Saturday was round robin play to determine seeding for Sunday. We started off the weekend in style defeating Wyoming 12-0 in Game #1, with a tremendous pitching performance by Reese Koolen that ended in a NO-HITTER! Reese dominated from start to finish, and the bats came with the run support. Game #2 was a hard fought game with the Chatham Golden Eagles that ended in a 6-3 loss. Abbey Bond pitched her heart out, going the distance with 6 solid innings. Allie Wolfe lead the offense with 2 hits and 3 stolen bases. Game #3 was a slugfest with London Lightning Blue, ending in a 13-7 defeat. Megan Henderson led the offense with a LONG homerun and a double. Allie, Bridget, Reese, Audrey, Abbey and Danielle all picked up hits along the way.
Elimination Sunday – We secured the #2 seed in our pool with a strong run differential in round robin play. Our first game on Sunday was a quarter-final matchup versus Lasalle, who happen to share the same nickname as us (Athletics). So who would be the better Athletics team? On this day it was us! In a tight pitchers duel we came out on top 4-3, advancing to the semi-finals. Reese Koolen pitched a gem, going 7 strong and striking out 11. The offense was lead by Danielle Wilkinson, Paige Borman and Reese Koolen, all collecting 2 hits apiece. Megan picked up a 2B and Allie Wolfe and Karis Holbrough chipped in with an RBI each. The semi-final saw us pitted against the Corunna Giants. We jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, winning this one 10-4. Allie Wolfe went 5 strong innings on the mound to be the winning pitcher, and picked up 3 hits with the bat. Audrey Usher hit a rocket homerun to celebrate her birthday in style. Danielle and Karis picked up 2 hits each, with Megan, Anderson Draper, and Abbey each contributing a hit apiece. This one was a sound victory from start to finish. On to the finale!
The Gold Medal match featured Lucan-Ilderton versus the daunted Chatham Golden Eagles. Chatham won the regular season, having only lost 1 game. We’d previously lost both games versus Chatham, and they were the favorites coming into the tournament. But, this is why you play the games! Anything can happen, and on this day it certainly did. We defeated Chatham 8-5 to take home the Gold medal! Everyone chipped in on this one. Abbey Bond gave us 4 strong on the mound, leaving with a 6-4 lead to become the winning pitcher of record. Abbey passed the baton to Reese who locked down the game with 3 dominant innings for the save. Danielle picked up 3 hits, including a double. Allie had a big triple in a key moment, and Karis and Audrey added doubles. Bridget, Reese and Anderson contributed a hit each as well. Paige Borman was rock solid behind the plate all weekend. She came up big in this game, effectively shutting down Chatham’s running game with her rocket arm.
Congratulations to Dyllan, Bridget, Danielle, Reese, Paige, Anderson, Megan, Audrey, Karis, Abbey and Allie on a fantastic season and weekend. It was a pleasure coaching you and being a part of your lives this summer. Thank you to the families…you’ve raised some great young ladies and we’re grateful for your time and sacrifice. Can’t wait to see what 2022 brings! Coach Amy, Ryan, Jenn and Jake.