Creemore U15 select team wins division championship
by Brian MacIntyre
As the summer began, the thought of playing a baseball game seemed farfetched. Thirteen young men came together for the love of the game. Spring started off with limited participant batting practices and skill development, but as soon as provincial mandates allowed, the u15 Select team was ready and eager to go.
Expectations were high for the team, and as exhibition games ended, having won all exhibition games by mercy rule, Creemore was the early favourite to win the league. The season started with a dominate pitching performance by Nic Guthrie. He struck out nine of the first 10 batters. Evan Longfield came in to pitch a three up three down inning and win the first game. It was the first of three collective no-hitters, with only one player reaching base by walking.
The team stumbled on Week 2 when they hosted Barrie at Gowan Park on the Civic holiday weekend. A win and a 12-6 loss to Barrie ruined the chance of the perfect season and would seal the team’s fate of a second-place finish in the regular season.
Week 3 saw the team’s second combined no hitter. Tait Lightheart retired the first nine batters he saw, six of them by strike out. Luke Millsap stepped in to retire the next three of four and again, the only base runner reached base by walking.
Good times kept rolling as the boys mowed through Weeks 4 and 5. Week 5 started with another combined no hitter. Jarod Marshall handled the first two innings, striking out four and walking one. Griffin MacIntyre took over and struck out another two and walked one. Luca Fuladore came in to pitch the final two innings, and struck out another two with no walks.
The team finished the regular season with nine wins, one loss and had outscored their opponents 114-42.
Gowan Park played host to the semi finals on August 28. Creemore made short work of Newmarket, beating them 13-3 and 11-1. Owen Stinson and Brady Reynolds dominated Game 1 on the mound, and Game 2 was handled by Dresden Dupuis and Guthrie.
The finals brought Barrie back to Creemore so the boys could right the wrong that happened in Week 2. Guthrie took the mound for Game 1 and was dialed in from the first pitch. Guthrie threw 97 pitches and struck out 12 batters, six of them watching the third strike buzz by them. Two hits and three walks were all the offence Barrie batters could muster with no one advancing past third base. Arm care rules didn’t allow Guthrie to finish his game, despite striking out two batters in the sixth inning, Luke Bennington came into to finish the job, and Creemore won 12-0. Game 2 started off a little rocky, having the first two batters reach base and score, but after striking out batters five and six, Lightheart dialed in. He went onto pitch a complete seven-inning 94 pitch game, striking the last batter out looking at strike three for his ninth K of the day. Creemore won 11-3 and with that won the u15 Select division championship of the York Simcoe Baseball League.