Jacks can’t derail Express
by Jackie Dempster-O'Halloran/Special to The Scugog Standard

What a difference a day makes.

That’s what the Lake Scugog Lumberjacks Bantam fastball team was thinking last weekend as they took part in the Cobourg Clippers’ Annual Bantam tournament. The Jacks were the dominant team in their pool on the first day of the tournament, but the same cannot be said for their semi-final and final games the next day. They just couldn’t keep up their strong performance down the wire.

Their first match was against the Domville Aces. Port Perry’s pitcher, Ryan Jones had a solid outing, allowing three hits and striking out seven batters in the game. Jeff St. Pierre’s triple in the first got the ball rolling for the Jacks as they took the lead and never looked back. Trent Cooper had a fine game, going two for two with some hard hit balls to right field. Alex Boswell, Luke Severson and Gunner Stevenson had the Aces’ three hits in the game but failed to get on the scoreboard. The final score was 7-0 for the Lumberjacks.

In the next round, the Jacks faced a familiar foe - the Pickering Heat. Getting the ball for Port Perry was Jeff St. Pierre, who pitched seven innings and gave up one earned run, allowing six hits and striking out 12 batters. Jeff helped himself out in the second. After giving up a lead-off double, he struck out the side to end the inning. Port Perry caught a break in the bottom of that inning on a throwing error that allowed two runs to score. In the top of the sixth, Troy Connor came in to score the Heat’s lone run of the game. The Lumberjacks added a run in the bottom of the inning on Brandon Griffen’s single, giving him two hits in the game and helping the Jacks take a close one over the Heat by a score of 3-1.

On their final game of the day, Port Perry was up against the Micksburg Twins. Jeff St. Pierre took the mound, pitching six innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits and striking out eight batters. The Jacks took a one-run lead in the first, which held up until the third when Riley Hennessey belted a homer to deep centre field, giving the Twins a 2-1 lead. Port Perry fought to get back into the game and regained the lead in the fourth when Corey Crosby hit a triple to right field and cashed in two runners. Micksburg scored three runs in the last inning on a triple by Jared Stay, which gave them a 5-4 lead. In their final at-bat, the Lumberjacks manufactured three runs to win the game by a score of 7-5. Matt Reid was three-for-three in the game, scoring twice. Cody Till had two singles and an RBI and Jesse Simmons went three-for-three to help Port Perry claim this one.

With the Jacks winning their pool, they had to face the second place team of the ‘A’ pool, the Napanee Express on Sunday. This game did not go well for Port Perry. The Jacks just couldn’t figure out Napanee’s starter Jeremy Martin, who had a great game and allowed only two hits. The Jacks’ pitching staff didn’t fair as well, giving up 11 runs in the game. The final score was 11-0 for the Express.

The loss to Napanee placed Port Perry in the Bronze medal final against the hosting Cobourg team. The Clippers took an early 1-0 lead in the first and added three more runs in the fourth on a couple of bloopers to the outfield. Port Perry picked away at the lead, adding two in the fifth and three in the sixth but couldn’t stop the Clippers, who continued to hit the ball hard. In the top of the sixth, Riley McAdams pounded a ball over the right field fence for a home run. The Jacks’ Layne O’Halloran picked up three RBIs in the game on two smacks to centre field. Final score Cobourg 9, Lumberjacks 5.

Congratulations go out to the Napanee Express, who beat the Pickering Heat in the Gold Medal finals, and the Cobourg Clippers on their Bronze Medal win. The tournament was a huge success and the Cobourg Softball Association did a great job hosting.