Gators (M) Midgets Provincials Bound!

Last weekend the Guelph Gateway Midget Gators competed in the Provincial Qualifying Tournament in Palmerston and came away with the Gold, going undefeated in the double knockout format.

Game 1 was against the top-ranked Windsor Lady Expos with the Gators coming out on top 8-7. Heather Ryder battled hard all game long to take the win on the mound. Guelph busted out to a six run lead, gave it all back and then scored two in the bottom of the sixth to win it. Ryder and Brittney Green both had a pair of singles, Caitlin Sunnucks had a double and a single. Sunnucks and Green both drove in a pair. Megan Laycock, Laura Doyle, Quinn Hall and Katie McColl all had singles.

Game 2 was a tough game against local Cambridge Coyotes. The Gators settled down on defense to record a 2-1 victory. Ryder was again on the rubber for the complete game victory, working extremely hard with backstop Britt Green to lead the team to the win. Gators got out front with two, a single by Laura Brown, who hit the ball hard all weekend, was followed by a bunt single by Ryder. Brown scored on a single by Mackenzie Hunter and Ryder followed her home on a clutch single by Laycock. After a long rain delay, Ryder shut down any comeback attempt by Cambridge.

Game 3 against Palmerston 91 Marlins saw the only two undefeated teams playing for the right to go directly to the gold medal game. Pitching and defence was the story in this game as it was played errorless by both teams with Gator pitcher Sunnucks giving up only one hit in the game for the Gators to win 4-0. Jenny Kennedy, Green and Sunnucks loaded the bases in the fourth and Quinn Hall drove in two to get the Gators all they needed. In the fifth, Hunter with a single, advanced on a wild pitch and was driven in on a Kennedy single.  The gold medal game against Palmerston 91 again saw the Gators win 8-3. Sunnucks again took the mound and the complete-game victory. The Gators pounded out 12 hits in this one.

The PWSA Midget Tier 2 Provincials begin on Friday, August 7, in Ancaster where Guelph will compete against 11 other Ontario teams for the Championship and the right to represent Ontario at the Eastern Canadians in late August in Quebec.

Gateway M Gators go 7-1 at Montreal Challenge

The Marshall Gators went 7-1 at the Montreal challenge on the weekend.  In Round Robin play they were undefeated winning 10-3 against the Laval Extreme, 15-0 against the Nomaded Laurentienne, 9-2 vs Rive Sud, 10-4 vs Lac St. Louis Lions and 15-4 against Team NewFoundland.  Caitlin Sunnucks recorded 3 wins and Heather Ryder had two in the first 5 games. Strong hitting by Jenny Kennedy, Caitlyn Reynolds as well as great defence by Brooke Roges made the first 5 wins seem routine.  

Saturday's last round robin game was against the tournament's eventual winner - Team Nova Scotia.  The Gators played errorless ball and won 4-3 in a nail biter.  Quinn Hall led the Gators offence going 2 for 2 at the plate with 2 RBI's.  Megan Laycock & Katie McColl also had singles while Brittney Green and Mackenzie Hunter also had RBI's.  Heather Ryder held Team Nova Scotia to 3 runs, giving up 7 hits.

Receiving a bye through the first round of Sunday playoffs, the Gators met Palmerston 90 in the Quarter Finals.  Brittney Green called an awesome game to keep Palmerston off balance at the plate and shut them out with a 3-0 victory.  Hunter was 2 for 3, with Laura Doyle, McColl, Hall, Laycock & Green all hitting singles.

The semi-final game pitted two undefeated teams. The New Jersey Rage also had a perfect record when we met.  After 7 complete, the game was tied 2-2.  Using the international tie-breaker, the Gators scored two runs in the top of 8.  Laura Brown scored after a single by Laura Doyle moved her to 3rd and Kelly MacPherson came in to pinch hit & hit a perfect sacrifice fly deep to right field.  Megan Laycock singled to score Doyle and give the Gators a two run cushion.

Unfortunately, in the bottom of the 8th, the Rage managed to score their free base runner & then two subsequent unearned runs to win the game.  Ryder & Green worked the Rage well giving up only 3 earned runs and 9 hits.

The Gators play in Ancaster on Wednesday night in Grand Valley league action where they are 8-3 presently.

Upcoming games and tournaments

The Guelph M Midget Gators are coming off an almost two week break (due to exams) and will be back on the field on Wednesda, June 24 in Stratford as they continue Grand Valley league play. Their current league record is 7 and 3. 

Next, they are entered in the Mississauga Partners Tournament http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=usfapartners that runs June 25-28.  They play Brampton (H) and Ancaster (E) on Thursday, Mississauga North (A) on Friday and St. John NB on Saturday am.  Playoffs begin on Sunday morning with two teams from each pool moving on.  The teams in the Gators pool are Whitby (B), Brantford, Guelph and Quebec Rebelles (90).  Each team in the pool plays the same 4 teams, but not each other.   

The following week will see the Gators in Montreal to face 6 previously unseen teams in the Montral Challenge. This is the second year that the team has competed in Montreal and they are looking forward to great fun and good ball. Check out the Montreal Challenge website at http://www.montrealchallenge.com/en/index.php for game schedules and score updates.

Update for Guelph Gateway M Midgets

       The past few weeks have been a very busy time for the Gator M squad. Over a 10 day span the team played 14 games. First was a trip to Mercersburg Pennsylvania for the Memorial Day Madness tournament where the teams record was, 3 wins and four loses, playing teams from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and Delaware. The heat was extreme and it took a toll on the girls as the weekend went on. Two wins, one loss Saturday, one win, two losses on Sunday and a loss on Monday sent the team on the long trip home. It was a weekend of good ball, ok ball and one not so good game. But it was a real learning curve for our young and inexperienced team at the Midget level.

       In the Whitby Showcase tournament again a weekend of good and bad, two wins and 3 losses, with the team’s inexperience showing in their inconsistence play. One sided wins over London and Whitby Harris along a one run loss to the tournaments evental silver medalist Whitby Butler, were the good parts of the weekend and lopsided losses to Pickering and Gator V ended the weekend.

       Returning to league play the Gators won in London 7-0, Heather Ryder threw the shutout back by strong team defense. Strong hitting performances by the Reynolds sisters Caitlyn and Bantam Butler call up Michelle sparked the offense. The team has been hit by injuries over the past weeks and has been lucky to have some strong Bantam call ups to help out. Wednesday night was a 7-5 win over Palmerston 91, the team now gets a few days off to recharge their batteries and hope to get 3 injured players back in the line-up soon.

       The Gators welcome Katie McCall as a new addition to the team.  With lots of tier 1 experience in both Gueph and Brampton, we look forward to the contributions she will make both offensively and defensively!

Guelph defeats Palmerston to improve to 6 and 2 in league

Guelph Gators (Marshall) once again were winners Wednesday night in a game against Palmerston 91.  After getting down 2-0 early in the second inning, the Gators fought back to score 7 runs over the next four innings and eventually won the game 7-5.  

The Midget girls play in Princeton on Monday night and will try for a 3 game sweep of London at home next Wednesday.   

Marshall Gators defeat London in Grand Valley play

June 2 (London)

Guelph defeated London Tier 1 in a 7-0 road victory on Tuesday night.  All nine gators in attendance played errorless ball to shut-out the London Lightning.  Great base coaching also by injury-sidelined Brit Green & Cait Sunnucks. 

The Marshall Gators play Palmerston tonight at home.  A win tonight  will improve their Grand Valley record to 6-2.

Gateway M Gators Improve Record

The Gateway M Midget Tier 1 Gators improved to 4-2 in Grand Valley last night with a solid 9-3 win over the Waterloo Ghosts.  Heather Ryder took the win giving up 2 hits over 4 innings, with Kelly MacPherson closing out the game on the mound. Good team defense showed and the bats were alive with all ten players reaching base. Mackenzie Hunter was 2/2, Megan Laycock and Jenny Kennedy reached base on all three at bats. MacPherson was 2/3, Laura Brown reached twice and Laura Doyle, Brittney Green, Caitlyn Reynolds  Brooke Rogers and Ryder all reached once.

The Gators play Brantford next Wednesday night at 8:30 at Exhibition park before heading to Harrisburg, PA for the Memorial Day Madness tournament where they will compete for a spot in the PONY World Series which is played in Akron OH in the end of July. 

Season Kicks Off at Grand Valley Opening: Midget 1 Gators(M)

The season got off to a much awaited start this weekend in London at the Grand Valley League kick-off tournament and the Marshall Gators finished the weekend with 3 wins, 1 loss. 

On Saturday the Gators went 1 and 1 losing to Cambridge 4-2, but then coming back strong at the plate to beat London 8-5. 

Sunday the Gators were perfect going 2-0. In the morning they defeated Kitchener 6-0 and in the afternoon they defeated Palmerston Culp 9-0. 

Their next tilt will be Wednesday evening in Guelph vs. the Ancaster Tier 1 Blizzard. Game time is 8:30

Gateway M Tier 1 Midgets looking forward to 2009 season!

The Guelph Gateway M Tier 1 Midgets are excited to get started this season after a long winter indoors. 

Their 2009 roster has a great mix of first year midgets coupled with more experienced second year players. 

The roster includes:

Brittney Green, Caitlin Sunnucks, Caitlyn Reynolds, Heather Ryder, Jenny Kennedy, Kelly MacPherson, Laura Brown, Laura Doyle, Mackenzie Hunter, Megan Laycock, Quinn Hall, Brooke Rogers

The team hits the diamond for their first games on May 2 & 3 in London at the Grand Valley kick-off tournament with games against Cambridge, London, Kitchener and Palmerston.  Watch for further league and tournament schedules to follow shortly.