Aug 24, 2022 | Dan Ridsdale | 105 views
Culbert Surveying U19 Girls Crowned Ontario Rural Softball Association (O.R.S.A.) Champions!!!
On Saturday, August 20th, the Culbert Surveying U19 Seahawks travelled to Crediton to participate in the Ontario Rural Softball Association (O.R.S.A.) Championships in a one day double elimination tournament. Most years the O.R.S.A. Championships are decided through a play down style format where teams play a traditional best 2 of 3 to decide who advances, but the tournament format offered a very "win now" slant to these championships as an early loss would mean a long day in the hot sun in Crediton.
Goderich knew one of their two opponents very well as the Exeter Extreme were Huron Perth Fastball League U21 Division rivals all season long. Goderich opened the event with a 9:00 am game versus the Extreme. Paige Willie was given the start, and the hard throwing Belgrave righty did not disappoint keeping the Extreme hitters off balance all game. Willie tossed a three hitter, striking out nine in cruising to the 11-5 victory. Offensively, Payton Swan did a good job in the lead off spot with a 3 run homer to deep left field. However, the majority of the damage was done by the middle of the line up as Emily Hartin, Sadie Squires, and Katie Ridsdale combined for 7 RBI's.
With the victory, the Seahawks had only a few minutes to prepare for their next opponent from Norwich/Otterville. Playing out of the South Oxford Fastball League, the Otters were an unknown ball club. Payton Swan was on the mound for Goderich, and the veteran Seahawk hurler was flawless in her two innings of work. Sadie Squires and Janelle Ditner rounded out the pitching duties in preserving the shut out 23-0 victory. Offensively, the Seahawks normally would acknowledge Grace Taylor (4 for 5 & 4 RBI's) or Swan (4 for 5 & 4 RBI's) as the leaders, but Emily Hartin continued to lead this team at the plate with a 4 for 5; 1 home run & 7 RBI performance. Other notables offensively was a great sacrifice bunt from Kate Johnston along with the continual unselfish play of Jaimy Langille and her right side RBI ground out.
The Seahawks had a few hours to wait for the championship which would see their opponent have to beat them twice to deny them of the provincial crown. Following a team lunch, the Culbert Crew returned to Crediton to find the hosts from Exeter waiting to play them once again. The Seahawks sent Payton Swan to the mound in what they hoped would be a nice clean one and done title victory. Exeter jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a pair of solid hits in the top of the first. However, the Seahawks batted around in the home half of the first sending twelve batters to the plate in taking an 8-2 lead. Exeter grabbed one of those runs back in their half of the second on a pair of hits, but Goderich extended their lead to 13-3 in the home half as Grace Taylor, Janelle Ditner, Emily Hartin, Paige Willie, and Swan all scored. The Extreme made it 13-5 after three innings setting the stage for an epic Seahawk implosion as the Seahawks gave up 11 runs on 9 hits and 3 errors which saw their comfy lead evaporate into a 16-13 deficit. Paige Willie came into the game to take over the mound duties for Swan. Once Goderich got on offence, they got right back to work as Willie clubbed a triple to the fence. Jamie Langille delivered Willie home with an RBI single. Emma Robinson then crushed a mammoth 2 run homer to left field to tie the game. Following a Katie Ridsdale single, Grace Taylor hammered a double scoring Ridsdale giving the Seahawks a narrow 17-16 lead heading into the final few innings. Willie stranded two Exeter runners in the fifth, and Hartin stole home in the bottom half to extend the narrow lead. Willie, who was exhausted in the Crediton heat, gave up a run on a trio of Extreme base hits, but the Seahawks got a huge lift when Grace Taylor threw a perfect strike to Katie Ridsdale at the plate on a left field relay to tag the runner at home. Earlier in the game, Emma Robinson had expertly performed a similar tag at the plate which were huge plays in this game. Goderich got the insurance run it needed when Robinson and Ridsdale were, once again, moved with precision by a Kate Johnston sacrifice bunt. Robinson eventually scored. The top half of the seventh saw Willie continue to battle through fatigue, and when Grace Taylor flipped a ground ball to Robinson at second to force the final out, the Seahawks had dragged themselves off of the mat in a slugfest to claim the Ontario Rural Softball Association Championship 19-17. Overall, the 2022 season was a strong one for the U21 Seahawks. They finished the year with a 23-12-2 overall record winning the Byron Optimist Tournament along with O.R.S.A. In their U21 division of the Huron Perth Fastball League, they floated near the top of the standings with a third seeded 12-5-1 record versus many veteran ball clubs.