Back Row Head Coach Julie Donaldson, Hayley King, Brynnlie Donaldson, Kennedy McIntosh, Izzy Tuck
Front Row: Isabelle Meulensteen, Sheridan Smith, Ella Williams, Kenzie Brock, Isabel Schalk
Missing from the Tournament Picture: Coach Bree Donaldson, Maddy Hinsperger and U15 Call-Up Zoey Mitchell and Assisted Player Reese Cameron, Assisted Coach help by Alexa Reinhart & Stephanie McIntosh.
Filled with nerves of the unknown into their first game played this year, the U17 Legends hit the diamond in Fullarton for the Mitchell Fastball Fest Friday night! With the frigid weather mimicking "fall ball", Willams & Tuck started the offense securing 1st and 2nd base with keen eyes for Hinsperger to bring the heat with a fierce triple sending both home.
Smith connected for a solid single to score another run before Elma closed the inning down. Stepping on the mound for the first of the year, Donaldson struck the first batter out. With Elma securing one runner on base, King at back catch tossed with perfection the Stealing runner out on second. Listowel shut Elma down with another strike out taking a 3-0 lead at the bottom of the first. King started the top of the second inning securing first base with a single and McIntosh followed suit, sending her home, adding another run to our score. Elma's bats came alive as they got a hold of 3 pitches sending two players across the home plate, however with a potential home run hit stolen by William's glove in deep center field and a couple more strikeouts, Legends closed the inning down heading into the top of the third still in the lead, 4-2. Tuck and Hinsperger both hit singles to secure a bag, but Elma stayed strong holding our girls up on base. Donaldson back on the mound bottom of the third, was on fire striking all 3 batters out. In the fourth, Elma quickly shut us down and managed to bring in two more runs of their own bringing the score to a tie 4-4. In the 5th inning with one runner on base, Elma connected with one hit taking the lead 5-4. In the top of the 6th with Tuck singling on base, Hinsperger crushed another triple bringing in another run to tie up the game 5-All. Meulensteen and Donaldson got under the first two batter's pop-flies and Donaldson ended the game holding 2 runners up with a final strike out of the game! A fantastic first season game against an equally talented team, and a great start of our Tournament!
Saturday Morning the weather was still as frigid as could be, but not our bats! Legends smashed in their 7 run max to start the game off hot against Wyoming! Williams, Smith and King on base with keen eyes, Tuck, Meulensteen and Schalk secured singles while Donaldson, Brock and Williams solidified doubles - a full rostered effort! Donaldson on the mound again as Wyoming only brought in one run with one hit in the first. Top of the second with Donaldson on base, Meulensteen connected a hard single and Smith stepped up to the plate to rip a triple sending the two runners home. King Followed with a single RBI before Wyoming shut the inning down. Wyoming's first batter of the inning got hold of the ball for a single and was the only run brought in before Donaldson shut it down with another 3 strikeouts. In the third Wyoming managed to hold our three runners on base and bring in two runs of their own. The score now 10-4 for Listowel. Top of the fourth our pick up player, Cameron, who joined us to give us a roster of 9 while others had work commitments, crushed a solo home run followed by Williams, Tuck and Donaldson hitting singles. King brought in two RBI's securing a single and bringing the score to a 15-4 lead. Listowel just had to hold them to complete the game with a mercy. First batter up for Wyoming met the ball for a line drive right to Meulensteen's quick glove, while Donaldson shut the inning down with two more strikeouts. Was a 15-4 mercy against Wyoming.
The third tournament game on Saturday evening we faced Norwich. Once again the legends hit the bats first and strong. Tuck began on base with a sharp eye while Hinsperger, Meulensteen, McIntosh and Schalk all secured base hits and Donaldson got hold of a double. That successful first inning brought in 5 legends across home plate. Norwich battled back with a couple hits including a great home run. In the second inning Norwich shut Listowel down and collected two more runs for themselves closing the gap on the Legends 5-4. Top of the third, Meulensteen connected a single and Smith claimed first base with patience. McIntosh and Schalk connected for an RBI each and Donaldson hooked another double RBI totalling four more runs for legends. That didn't stop Wyoming for matching those runs back with another four runs themselves and closing the third 9-8 for Listowel. Top of the fourth Wiliams smashed a solo homerun, while Hinsperger and Meulensteen snagged a base with singles and Smith slammed a double sending teammates home. McIntosh hit a great single and Donaldson did as well to send her home. Bottom of the fourth, Donaldson still at the mound, continuing to throw heat as she struck all three Wyoming batters out. King started the fifth with a single and our call up player Mitchell, stepped up as she knocked a single adding another run in for Listowel. For the first time this tournament, Legends had some errors and Wyoming scored another three runs in but it was a full team effort that put three runners out and secured the win 14-11!
Sunday Morning, with the sun finally out, the Legends hit the diamonds in Mitchell to start the day in a semi-final game vs Innerkip. Keeping the momentum of seemingly taking to the bats first, Hinsperger awakened all with excitement and loud cheers as she hit an explosive solo homerun - the only run of the inning. Donaldson on the mound and King still at catch, the duo began the day fierce again, striking out all three batters to start the defense. Top of the second inning, Innerkip pitches stood no chance as McIntosh, Donaldson, Schalk, King and Williams all hit strong singles contributing to another four runs. Innerkip followed suit with another four runs of their own, starting to close the gap a bit with a score of 9-5. Top of the fourth it was Meulenteen connecting a single and teammate Smith, a double, that brought in one more run, however Innerkip did not let up as they closed the gap even more with four more runs, the score now 10-9. Donaldson, King and Williams rallied singles and two more runs on the board, and the last that Listowel scored. It was a full team effort that shut down Innerkip in the fifth and sixth inning closing the score 12-9 for Legends.
Game 5 now vying for Gold vs the same opponent as our game Friday night, Elma Express. Once again Listowel took to the bats first but unfortunately Elma retired three up, three down while collecting two runs of their own to take the lead at the bottom of the first, 2-0. Meulensteen got the bats started for Listowel in the top of the second while McIntosh doubled sending her teammate home. Schalk managed to bring tears of joy to her coach as she succeeded her first ever home run crushing the ball hard down the third base line and taking the lead from Elma 3-2. Elma started with a triple in the bottom of the inning but only tied the score up as Donaldson, still throwing heat, struck three out in a row. The third inning only saw one run come in, for Listowel, as Williams' swift and skilled running saw her steal herself all the way home!. Top of the fourth the Legend’s bats were on fire as Meulensteen, Smith, McIntosh, and Schalk all batted singles followed by another exciting homerun this time by King! Bats continued as Brock, Williams, Tuck and Meuleensteen commanded singles while Smith crushed her third triple this weekend, adding to the run count, totaling 9 runs in - but unfortunately 7 runs is the max that could be counted in the inning. After such an exciting inning start, Elma continued to make their own excitement too as they managed to find only holes in the outfield and also brought in 7 runs. Elmas defenses rallied to hold runners up and close down the top of the fifth as Donaldson struck two out and her team backed her up to make the third out. With Listowel still holding the lead but just with a small margin now of 11-10, Elma successfully held our runners up on base, but this time in the bottom of the inning broke the matched rally, by once again finding every hole they could to bring in 7 more runs! Top of the seventh and Listowel’s last chance to answer back, Elma took out our first two batters. McIntosh got hold of a single and Donaldson knocked a triple however it wasn't enough as Elma then put out another player to take home the Gold Medal with a final 17-12 win.
These Ladies proudly wore the silver medal home, because there were way too many positive plays, team achievements and personal bests this opening weekend to walk off with anything but a great sense of pride and happiness including excitement for the season ahead! To recap and highlight some of those moments; every single player hit and brought in runs! 49 singles, 11 doubles, 6 triples and 5 home runs along with 13 watchful base on balls, all contributed to the amazing results and scores tallied this weekend. Defense was so tight and well played by all! Special shout out to King for her fantastic glove work behind the plate for all but two innings this weekend. As well to her teammate Donaldson for pitching the entire tournament with 36 strike outs and only 10 walks (7 of which occurred in the first game of the season Friday night, 3 in total during the two games Saturday and Zero walked in the semi-final and gold medal games Sunday)
The U17 Legends and their coaches, look forward to their first game of the season, Wednesday Night, 8:30 at John Bell North Diamond! Come cheer them on!