From Under Dogs to Tops Dogs this weekend. Rookie Rep climbed from near the bottom of the pack to take the championship in 6 hard played games, without winning a single coin toss.
Game 1 took place on Friday night against Exeter. Listowel battled hard against Exeter and despite 8 doubles and 2 triples, Listowel only lead by 1 run in the bottom of the 5th inning. The rally started in the 6th inning with a single by call-up Tate Berfelz and a 2 run homer hit by Dax Vader, followed by 3 more runs. They shut Exeter down in the bottom of the 6th inning by only allowing 4 batters to the plate, winning the game 19-13.
Returning Saturday morning for a 9:00am game against Mitchell, Listowel couldn't seem to find a hole past the undefeated Mitchell defence. Listowel played hard but struggled to shut down the Mitchell offence losing 14-4. Listowel was not ready to throw in the towel just yet. They headed into their 3rd game with their heads held high and the attitudes of champions.
Listowel took a commanding lead in the first 2 innings against Lucan including a 2-run homer by Chris Troyer in the first inning. Listowel lead Lucan 11-1 going into the 3rd inning. Lucan decided to turn up the heat and shut Listowel down for the next two innings while also managing to drive in a couple runs. Listowel with an uncomfortable lead drove in 4 more runs in the 5th inning including some key RBI's from Tyler Raben and Reece Cameron. Lucan came back with a scary last inning having 7 runners cross the plate. Luckily, it wasn't enough to catch the Listowel Team. Listowel winning 15-13. With only one loss under their belts, Listowel headed into Sunday morning to face Kincardine.
Listowel came out strong Sunday morning, with a strong first inning driving the first 5 batters crossing the plate. Kincardine fought back scoring 7 runs in the first 2 innings to take the lead. But thats all the solid Listowel defence would allow. Determined not to give up, Listowel continued to drive in the runs with a Lead off home-run by Liam Biesinger in the 5th. Henry Meulensteen started an incredible rally in the 6th inning, plus a 2 run home-run in the 6th by Kaleb Schouten making Listowel uncatchable winning the game 16-7.
Listowel was left in a 3-way tie with St. Mary's and Mitchell for the championship game. Coaches stood anxiously for the draw to see which team would win and be sent to the finals and which two teams would battle it out for the second spot. St. Mary's won the draw. It would be Listowel vs. Mitchell championship spot. A team which Listowel was now 0-3 against.
Listowel showed up to the 1:00pm game with the hearts of winners and were determined not to leave the game any different. The two teams battled back and forth with incredible defence and commanding offence. A few key outs by Zander Baggio and Riley Vader mixed with a 7 run rally in the 4th inning including 2 RBI's by Hayden McIntosh and 2 RBI's by Reed McBeth gave Listowel a comfortable lead of 11-4 against Mitchell. Mitchell, not ready to give up, battled back with a mercy inning to tie the game 11. At the top of the 6th inning Listowel managed to send 2 runs across the plate. With a growing crowd waiting in anticipation, Listowel managed to shut down "the team to beat" allowing no runs in the 6th, winning the game 13-11.
With only a 30min break before the championship game, Listowel had a slow start only sending 8 batters to the plate in the first 2 innings and St. Mary's managed to take a 5-1 lead. Listowel had come too far to give up now and they turned up the heat and fought back had to tie the game 5-5 in the 3rd inning. After St. Mary's drove in 3 more runs in the bottom of the 3rd, Listowel decided to step up the defence. They managed to shut St. Mary's down for the next 4 innings, while slowly picking away at the St. Mary's defence. The players and the fans erupted in the bottom of the 7th as Listowel made the final out to become WOBA Champions, winning 11-8.
Congratulations Listowel Rookie Rep team on your championship and good luck in the OBA's!