The peewees played what may have been their best game of the year but fell just a little short (9-7) against undefeated St Marys, in the WOBA semi-finals.
The weekend started off a little shaky as the local boys squandered a 4 run led against Flesherton in the opening game of the tourney. Riley Conners pitched a solid game then gave way to Chris Enders & Lucas Jamieson, but the Legionaries couldn’t stop the late inning heroics by Flesherton, losing 15-13. Game 2 saw the peewees come up against Kincardine and this time it was the locals turn for late inning heroics. Down by a couple runs in the last inning the Listowel lads pushed 3 runs across to take the 9-8 victory. However the game took it’s toll on the teams pitching as they had to use 3 pitchers to secure the victory. Jacob Thornback got the start, followed by Ben Bowman and Caleb Warren had to finish it up. The next game the young Legionaries faced Hanover in what may have been the tourny’s most exciting game. Listowel trailed for the most of the game despite a gutsy pitching performance by Warren. The TSN turning point may have been when Jamieson came in to pitch, as the mosquito held Hanover at bay allowing his teammates to chip away at the lead, eventually tying it up in the 6th inning. Hanover would move ahead by 1 in the top of the 7th but this would just que the bottom of the 7th heroics. With the rain coming down, Warren reached 1st with a single, followed by a walk to Conners… Owen Bender clutch double would score Warren but on the play Conners would be thrown out at 3rd. Hanover would then walk Jarrett Patenaude to set up the force play, then a successful double steal would move the winning run 75 feet away. Hanover again choose to walk Thornback putting the force on any bag. But none of this mattered as Bowman would send an off-field bomb over their heads giving the locals the walk off victory. In the semi-finals the peewee 1’s would be in tough as they faced the undefeated St Marys team. Listowel would send Bowman to the mound to hold the league’s powerhouses at bay and he responded with a gem. With the Legionaries holding a 2 run lead heading into the 5th the TSN turning point went against the locals, as Bowman took a come-backer off the pitching wrist and had to leave the mound due to the injury. This seemed to spark St Marys as they pushed 6 runs across the plate in the 6th inning. Credit the Listowel team as they never gave up, down 3 in the bottom of the 7th they flipped on the rally caps one more time. With 1 run in and another on 1st the concerned St Marys team turned to their ace to close the door, and that he did handing the Cinderella Listowel boys the 9-7 loss.
Despite the loss on paper it seemed like a victory for players, coaches & parents alike. Thanks again to everyone for another fun year and hopefully we’ll see everyone back again next year.
Team members Front (L-R) Lucas Jamieson, Owen Bender, Jacob Thornback, Jarrett Patenaude Middle (L-R) Dawson Currie, Caleb Warren, Ben Bowman, Chris Enders, Riley Conners Back coaches Rob Hollinger, Marc Bowman... missing from the photo Cam Devries