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Rookie Select Hawks - Consolation Championship Semi-Finalists!
2014-06-17
The Rookie Select Hawks battled hard all weekend against some very good teams before bowing out in the Consolation Championship Semi-Finals.
AURORA - The Newmarket Rookie Select Hawks entered the Aurora Father's Day tournament on the weekend. The OBA tournament was for "A" level rep teams and lower.
"Yes, it was a big step up in competition for the kids," said Coach Tim afterwards. "The difference in baseball between our Select Loop and these rep teams is huge."
Newmarket went into the tournament 6 and 0 on the regular season, having won all but one of its games by Mercy Rule. Their first opponent was the Georgina Rep team on Friday evening. Newmarket jumped out to a 7-0 lead through 2 innings, but then Georgina picked up its defence and chipped away, eventually winning 11-7.
"I won't lie to you, but I started imagining the Hawks winning the whole thing at the start of the game," Coach Tim admitted. "But then Georgina settled down and started to play their game. We fought hard and definitely gave them a scare."
Newmarket's second game was against the Burlington Bulls Rep team on Saturday morning. The Hawks kept it close for most of the game, but a big inning late for the Bulls put the game out of reach. Burlington went on to lose in the Tournament Finals to Peterborough.
"It was another good effort for our boys. Momentum in baseball is a funny thing. One mistake leads to another which leads to another. Being able to bounce back from a mistake and shake it off is something we're going to work on. The Bulls coach said some really nice things to our kids afterwards during the MVP presentation, and I thanked him for that."
The Hawks last game in the Round Robin portion was against the 45-9 2013 SOBA Provincial Finalist Bloordale club. Newmarket played some good defence and managed to limit Bloordale's scoring, but Bloordale's own defence was too strong, holding the Hawks to just 3 runs.
"Bloordale doesn't offer Rep baseball until Mosquito, so it was another top tier team to play against. The fact that they came 2nd in Ontario last year was obviously not a fluke. The kids were all pushed and learned something. Heck, I learned something about coaching Rookie ball as well from these games."
Finally, Newmarket was matched up with Bolton's Rep team in the Consolation Semi-Finals. Newmarket looked strong through the first 3 innings, taking the lead, but gave up 7 runs twice late and couldn't make the comeback.
"Yeah, a few of our key defenders made some uncharacteristic mistakes. I went out there to try and settle them down each time, but apparently the wheels had fallen off. We matched up well against Bolton and it's too bad we can't play them again. It was a fun game. To be honest, it was nice to see them get their first win of the season, even if it had to be against our kids. They also won the next game to win the Consolation championship."
After the game, Joey won the Pepper Idol and Noah put on a batting practice display, hitting 22 out of 25 pitches. The Hawks practice Thursday in preparation for their double-header in Innisfil on Sunday.
"All in all, I think it was a good experience for the entire team. It would have been a GREAT experience if they'd won a game on Sunday, but you have to be a little happy for Bolton as well. We sat down after the games and talked about great plays and hits and they all said they had fun. The big difference between our Select loop and the tournament was the consistency of the defences we played against, and the quality of the hitting. We did a great job putting the bat on the ball, but we rarely drove the ball to the outfield like the other clubs. Sometimes you've just got to tip your hat. But I'm still very proud of how the kids played and conducted themselves."
"Yes, it was a big step up in competition for the kids," said Coach Tim afterwards. "The difference in baseball between our Select Loop and these rep teams is huge."
Newmarket went into the tournament 6 and 0 on the regular season, having won all but one of its games by Mercy Rule. Their first opponent was the Georgina Rep team on Friday evening. Newmarket jumped out to a 7-0 lead through 2 innings, but then Georgina picked up its defence and chipped away, eventually winning 11-7.
"I won't lie to you, but I started imagining the Hawks winning the whole thing at the start of the game," Coach Tim admitted. "But then Georgina settled down and started to play their game. We fought hard and definitely gave them a scare."
Newmarket's second game was against the Burlington Bulls Rep team on Saturday morning. The Hawks kept it close for most of the game, but a big inning late for the Bulls put the game out of reach. Burlington went on to lose in the Tournament Finals to Peterborough.
"It was another good effort for our boys. Momentum in baseball is a funny thing. One mistake leads to another which leads to another. Being able to bounce back from a mistake and shake it off is something we're going to work on. The Bulls coach said some really nice things to our kids afterwards during the MVP presentation, and I thanked him for that."
The Hawks last game in the Round Robin portion was against the 45-9 2013 SOBA Provincial Finalist Bloordale club. Newmarket played some good defence and managed to limit Bloordale's scoring, but Bloordale's own defence was too strong, holding the Hawks to just 3 runs.
"Bloordale doesn't offer Rep baseball until Mosquito, so it was another top tier team to play against. The fact that they came 2nd in Ontario last year was obviously not a fluke. The kids were all pushed and learned something. Heck, I learned something about coaching Rookie ball as well from these games."
Finally, Newmarket was matched up with Bolton's Rep team in the Consolation Semi-Finals. Newmarket looked strong through the first 3 innings, taking the lead, but gave up 7 runs twice late and couldn't make the comeback.
"Yeah, a few of our key defenders made some uncharacteristic mistakes. I went out there to try and settle them down each time, but apparently the wheels had fallen off. We matched up well against Bolton and it's too bad we can't play them again. It was a fun game. To be honest, it was nice to see them get their first win of the season, even if it had to be against our kids. They also won the next game to win the Consolation championship."
After the game, Joey won the Pepper Idol and Noah put on a batting practice display, hitting 22 out of 25 pitches. The Hawks practice Thursday in preparation for their double-header in Innisfil on Sunday.
"All in all, I think it was a good experience for the entire team. It would have been a GREAT experience if they'd won a game on Sunday, but you have to be a little happy for Bolton as well. We sat down after the games and talked about great plays and hits and they all said they had fun. The big difference between our Select loop and the tournament was the consistency of the defences we played against, and the quality of the hitting. We did a great job putting the bat on the ball, but we rarely drove the ball to the outfield like the other clubs. Sometimes you've just got to tip your hat. But I'm still very proud of how the kids played and conducted themselves."