Aug 02, 2015 | Dan Ridsdale | 1921 views
L'il Deckhand Squirt Split Season Finale
The 2015 regular season came to a close at Ag Park on July 27th for the only youth fastball program in our community.
Playing in their first full season in the competitive Huron Perth Fastball League, the locals find themselves as the 7th seed in the 12 team loop with a very respectable 6 - 10 record. Said Coach Rhonda Hodges about the teams' record "We knew that this was going to be a real challenge for our young program to come in and be competitive with well established programs like Tavistock, Exeter, and, Shakespeare. Further to that point, bench boss Dan Ridsdale mentioned three notable games where Goderich, without a few mental mistakes here or there, could have easily finished at the .500 mark for the season. A huge highlight for the Club came in early July when the Squirts travelled to league power house Tavistock with only 9 players. With four of their big bats out of the line up, they pushed the talented Athletics hard in their own park before finally being defeated 12 - 11.
Seahawks 10 vs. St. Mary's 8
In the first half 0f the July 27th double header, Goderich sent Blyth's Janelle D. to the mound to face their West Division rivals from Stonetown who had just held on to stop a Seahawk road victory with a controversial 8 - 7 win four days earlier. Janelle did not disappoint the large crowd shutting down St. Mary's in the 1st inning with solid pitching.
The always electric, Jamie A., immediately ignited the Seahawk bench by drawing a leadoff walk before expertly swiping two bases to get herself into scoring position. Underage rookie, Audrey C., then proceeded to have a fantastic at bat, plating Jamie with a very unselfish right side ground ball. Katie R., inspired by Audrey's effort, clubbed a double to left field. Three pitches later, the hot hitting Emily H. drove in her first of two RBI's.
The visitors then proceeded to score three, but, Janelle minimized the damage with two inning ending K's.
Zoe M. and Jillian H. then hit the reset button by getting on base allowing Grace T. and Kate J. to drive them home.
With two out, Ava F. and Payton S. reached base to be delivered promptly home by a Jamie A. double. St. Mary' s continued to push the Seahawks taking an 8-6 lead, only to see it disappear when Zoe M. blasted a deep triple scoring Katie R. and Megan K. Grace T. then lined a single, and, was brought home on another base hit by Kate J.
Payton S. came in to relieve Janelle D. in the final inning. The young pitcher sandwiched three strike outs around a couple of base hits leaving the tying run at 2nd base. and, saving the 10 - 8 victory for the Seahawks.
Seahawks 9 vs. Exeter 14
In the nightcap, the locals faced the extremely daunting task of beating a good Exeter club that had only lost 2 games all season. The visitors scored 4 in the first, but, starting short stop, Megan K., made a couple of Sports Centre highlight catches during an inning of otherwise lacklustre defence behind starter Grace T.
Trailing 6-0, the Seahawks were sent in flight, when Katie R. belted a triple scoring Emily H. and Jamie A.
The home side drew even closer when Payton S. and Jillian H. scored on an Ava F. base hit. but, the visiting Extreme answered right back to maintain the 4 run lead.
After Megan K. drew a leadoff walk, Grace T. smacked the first triple of her career which was immediately followed by another timely double by Zoe M. to make things interesting. In the end, Exeter outlasted Goderich 14-9 in what was an entertaining evening of fastball.
The Squirts are busy preparing for their Huron Perth League Championship Tournament on the August 7 - 9 weekend at Anne Hathaway Park in Stratford.