In game 1 of the World Series Twins Al took care of business and won in convincing fashion, 10-1 at their home yard. Braeden Fitzpatrick got through a shaky start and settled in nicely to throw 6 strong innings. It seemed as though every hitter on Al’s squad got in the action with QAB after QAB with Will McAffer as the standout leading the way. Twins pk struggled all day finding their rhythm at the dish and let the game get away from them with some untimely miscommunications, errors and walks.
Because of rain, games 2 & 3 of the 2011 Junior Twins World Series were played as a double header on Friday night under the lights. Game 2 was a great game which featured some solid pitching by starters Will McAffer and Matteo Vincelli. A back and forth battle kept fans entertained with some timely hitting and great defensive plays. Twins pk went into the bottom of the 7th with a 4-3 lead. Lead by veteran Daniel Curalli Twins Al/Dave scrapped it out and put runners on base setting the stage for an opposite field walkoff base hit by Matty Woo which cleared the bench for a wild celebration at Parkgate near first base.
Team pk, returning back home, looked to rebound from a heartbreaking loss in game 2 and sent Griffy Goyer to the mound to compete against Alex Debelle. Twins pk came out strong and jumped out to a 9-1 lead after 4 complete. Twins Al/Dave refused to give up and continued to swing the bats aggressively. After getting some help in the form of some walks and errors they took control of momentum and before you could say “Where did Al go?” the bases were loaded and the game was tied at 10 in the top of the 7th inning. Will McAffer continued to swing a hot bat and doubled to left center putting his team in front 12-10. With the lights about to go out, the game was postponed heading into the bottom of the 7th. Twins pk showed up at the park Wednesday night fired up and loaded the bases with 1 out in the bottom of the 7th. Matty Woo, on the mound for Twins Al/Dave, proceeded to strike out the next 2 batters to secure the World Series Championship and a place in Junior Twins history.
Much respect goes out to all the players who battled in less than ideal playing conditions, the will to compete was noticeably better than it had been in some of the exhibition games earlier in the fall season. At the end of the day full recognition goes out to the Twins Al/Dave team who proved that they were the grittier of the two teams and they wanted it more.
The North Shore Junior Twins 2011 Fall Ball season is well underway, and the club split into two squads this past weekend for a tournament in Sumas, WA. Saturday went well, lead by the positive energy of John Haar, and finished with the Twins RED team knocking off the Twins Black team 8-3 fueled by a big 7-run 5th inning.
Both teams picked up wins on Sunday and did it in different fashion. Team Black put their leadoff man on base in 5 out of the 7 innings and racked up 5 two out runs on offence. Andrew Callegari battled hard on the mound and when all was said and done, picked up the W after Will McAffer drove in the winning run (by mercy rule) in the bottom of the 6th to win 16-9. Twins Red played solid defence behind a complete game gem by Alex Debelle and got some timely hits en route to a 4-2 win which secured them a spot in the tournament Championship game.
Unfortunately a storm blew in during the championship game while both Twins teams were in action. Twins Black was tied 3-3 with the Cannons in the third inning with Matt D'Avignon on the mound and Alex Owen got the start for Twins Red in the final and handed the ball over to Josh Grant in the 3rd trailing 2-1 to the D Sports Richins.
Next weekend the Twins will compete as a complete group in the Laces Fall Classic in Everett. After that they will wrap up the fall ball season with a couple practices mixed in with the Junior Twins World Series at Parkgate.
The Jr Twins went into the annual Langley Jr Blaze tournament playing some good baseball despite a tough nine-inning loss to North Delta on Wednesday night.
Friday night's first game was an offensive explosion for the Jr Twins who were matched up against the Mid Valley Saints (Midget AAA). The game ended in five innings, with the Twins ahead 15-0. In the second game, the Jr Twins faced a mix of grade 10 & 11 Sr Blaze players; over-matched, the Jr Twins lost 9-0. In the third game of the weekend, the Jr Twins had a rematch with the Mid Valley Saints. This one was much closer: 3-2 final. Trailing 2-1 late in the game the Twins got a clutch two-RBI double by Alex Owen to take the lead, and they held on for the victory. Monday's semi-final brought the Twins back to McLeod Park to host the Kamloops Riverdogs (Midget AAA). A single run in the bottom of the first was all the Twins needed in this 1 hour and 13 minutes beauty. Clark Grisbrook was on the mound for a dominant, complete game shut-out. Moving onto the final, the Jr Twins would face the Langley Jr Blaze.
With strong pitching and the best offense in the league, the Jr Blaze had dominated the Jr Twins so far this year in league play. The Jr Twins got out to a quick start and scored 4 in the top of the first, only to see Langley bounce right back with 3 in the bottom half. The teams traded runs for most of the rest of the game. In the seventh, the Jr Twins were ahead 6-5 and scored an all important run to go ahead by two. Langley did not give up going into the bottom of seven. After a quick out Langley managed to get the bases loaded. Riley Macdonald, who relieved Braeden Fitzpatrick (threw 6 innings), got the Blaze to hit into a game-ending double play, and sealed the 7-5 victory and the championship for the Jr Twins.
The weekend was a great showing by all the Jr Twins in all three aspects of their game. They had quality pitching, great defence and a balanced offensive attack!!
The weather on the past weekend was dismal enough to force a postponement, so the Junior Twins paddled to the Visitors' side to give them the bad news...
...then they paddled back
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