Silver medal winners
The Winchester Bantam Girls Red Sox travelled to the Andy Shields Ball Park in Greely on the weekend of July 12-14 for the Rural Ottawa Softball Association year end tournament. The Red Sox made it to the championship game against the Kenmore 1 Heat but had to settle for a silver medal. The medalists are from from left, Ashley Walsylko-Fletcher, Reavyn Baldwin, Alexis Sharpley and Reise Marriner. Back from left, coach, Peter Marriner, Gabriellla Cotnam, Alison Roach, Sara Sloane, Emma McRostie, coach, Tom Sloane, Amanda Shay, Margot Guy, and coach, Chris Guy. Moore photo
GREELY—The Winchester Bantam Girls Red Sox travelled to Greely for the Rural Ottawa Softball Association’s end of year tournament for five games this past weekend.
Heat 16 Red Sox 4
The Winchester Bantam Girls Red Sox travelled to the Andy Shields Ball Park in Greely on the weekend of July 12-14 for the Rural Ottawa Softball Association year end tournament. The Red Sox finished the season with a perfect 11-0 record but lost their first game of the tournament to the Kenmore 1 Heat; they won their next two games making it to the semifinal against the Gloucester Hawks who they beat 12-9 and headed to the finals.
The Red Sox met the Kenmore Heat for the championship, the team that beat them two nights previous. The Red Sox got off on the wrong foot going three up and three down in the top of the first inning and the Heat took advantage, scoring the maximum four runs in the bottom of the inning. The Heat took a 4-0 lead into the second inning.
The Red Sox cut the deficit to three after scoring a single run in the top of the second. The Heat answered with four more runs in the bottom of the second and took an 8-1 lead into the third inning.
The Heat’s pitching was too much for the Red Sox again in the top of the third inning as two struck out and one was popped up ending their half of the inning. The Heat put the game out of reach scoring four more runs in the bottom the third inning taking a 12-1 lead into the fourth inning.
The Red Sox had their best inning in the game thus far, scoring two runs but they left the bases loaded in the top of the fourth. The Heat went three up and three down for the first time in the game in the bottom of the fourth, but still led 12-3.
The Red Sox’ offence was stymied again in the top of the fifth inning but their defence shut the Heat down in the bottom of the inning but still trailed 12-3 heading into the sixth.
The Red Sox scored a single run in the top the sixth to close the gap to eight. The Heat put the game out of reach for the Red Sox in the bottom of the inning scoring four more runs. The Red Sox suffered only their second loss of the season by a score of 16-4 and had to settle for a silver medal.
Scoring the runs for the Red Sox were Alison Roach with a pair and Reese Marriner and Sara Sloane scored one each.
Red Sox 12 Gloucester 9
The Red Sox played host to the Gloucester Bantam Girls’ team in the semifinal of the Rural Ottawa Softball Association year end tournament on Sun., July 14 in Greely. The Red Sox were coming off a 15-10 win over the Greely Hawks and snuck into the semifinal but they would have to fight shorthanded due to injuries as they only had eight players, with one that could just hop along.
The Red Sox’ defence came up big in the top of the first inning holding Gloucester to just four batters stranding one on first base. The Red Sox’ offence kicked in early in the game, scoring the maximum four runs in the bottom of the inning taking a 4-0 lead into the second inning.
Gloucester got runners in scoring position in the top of the second but the Red Sox shut them down before they could score. The Red Sox took advantage scoring three more runs in the bottom of the inning taking a 7-0 lead.
Gloucester again only got four batters to the plate in the top the third inning, and again, the Red Sox made them pay in the bottom of the third with another trio of runs scoring taking a 10-0 lead. Gloucester mounted a comeback scoring four runs in the top of the fourth inning closing the gap to six.
The Red Sox went three up and three down in the bottom of the fourth but led 10-4 heading into the fifth inning. Gloucester closed in on the Red Sox scoring another four runs in the top of the fifth making a two-run game.
The Red Sox answered with a single in the bottom of the fifth taking a three-run lead into the sixth inning. Gloucester loaded up the bases but were only able to score one run in top of the sixth but their defence held the Red Sox at bay in the bottom of the fifth inning only allowing four batters leaving a stranded runner at third base.
Gloucester needed a big inning out of their offence with their last kick at the can but the Red Sox’ defence allowed a runner to third base but then shut the door taking the game 12-9. With the win, the Red Sox move on to the final against the Kenmore 1 Heat, the team that beat them in the tournament opener.
Scoring the runs for the Red Sox were Reese Marriner with four, Alison Roach and Alexis Sharpley with three each and Sara Sloane and Ashley Walsylko-Fletcher with singles. Pitching for the Red Sox were Amanda Shay and Roach.
Red Sox 15 Hawks 10
In their third game of the Rural Ottawa Softball Association year end tournament, the Winchester 2 Red Sox welcomed the Greely Hawks in Greely on Sat., July 13. The Red Sox were coming off a narrow 8-6 victory over the Vars Vipers and needed a win to stay in the hunt for the championship with the winner of this game moving onto the semifinal.
The Hawks were the first to hit the score sheet, scoring a single in the top of the first inning but they left the bag juiced. The Red Sox bats were hot to open the game scoring the maximum four runs and took a 4-1 lead into the second inning.
The Hawks added a pair of runs in the top of the second but again the Red Sox answered with four runs taking an 8-3 lead into the third inning. The Hawks kept pace scoring four runs in the top of the third inning, cutting the gap to just one.
The Red Sox were not deterred scoring three runs in the bottom half of the inning taking an 11-7 lead into the fourth inning. The Hawks scored a single in the top the fourth but again, the Red Sox bettered them by a run scoring two and took a 13-8 lead into the fifth inning.
The Hawks kept fighting back scoring another run in the top of the fifth but the Red Sox scored two more in the bottom of the inning leaving the bags loaded. The Hawks added a single run in the top of the sixth inning but it wasn’t enough as the Red Sox took the game 15-10.
With the win, the Red Sox moved onto the semifinal. Scoring the runs for the Red Sox were Alison Roach and Alexis Sharpley with three each, Amanda Shay and Ashley Walsylko-Fletcher with a pair each and scoring singles were Reese Marriner, Sara Sloane, Raven Baldwin, Margot Guy and Emma McRostie.
Red Sox 8 Vipers 6
In the second game of the Rural Ottawa Softball Association year end tournament the Winchester 2 Red Sox were the visitors as they took on the Vars Vipers in Greely on Sat., July 13. The Red Sox were coming off their first loss of the season and tournament against the Kenmore 1 Heat 14-10 and looked to get back in the hunt for the championship and to save their season.
The Red Sox had a great start scoring four runs in the top of the first inning but their defence let them down in the bottom of the inning surrendering four runs to the Vipers. The teams took a four-all draw into the second inning.
The Red Sox added a pair of runs in the top of the second but left a stranded runner on third base. The Vipers got runners in scoring position but were unable to bring them home in the bottom of the second as the Red Sox took a 6-4 lead into the third inning.
The Red Sox loaded up the bases in the top of the third inning and scored two, leaving two runners in scoring position. The Vipers put the pressure on the Red Sox in the bottom of the third loading up the bases but were only able to score a single run.
The Red Sox took an 8-5 lead into the fourth inning. The Red Sox only got one runner in scoring position in the top of the fourth but were unable to bring her home. The Red Sox defence came up big in the bottom of the fourth allowing just four to the dish and stranded a Viper on third base taking the 8-5 lead into the fifth inning.
The Red Sox went three up and three down in the top of the fifth inning but their defence held the Vipers to a single run in the bottom of the fifth and took an 8-6 lead into the sixth inning. Again the Vipers defence came up big allowing just four Red Sox batters to the dish having the sole runner on first base.
The Vipers needed to score three in the bottom of the inning or two to force an extra inning, so the pressure was on. The Red Sox defence struck out one batter and the other two were thrown out at first base as the Red Sox took the game 8-6.
Scoring for the Red Sox were Allison Roach with two runs, Alexis Sharpley, Reese Marriner, Sara Sloane, Amanda Shay, Ashley Walsylko-Fletcher and Margot Guy all scoring singles. The pitchers were Roach and Shay.
Heat 15 Red Sox 10
The Winchester 2 Red Sox took on the Kenmore 1 Heat in their first game of the Rural Ottawa Softball Association year end tournament in Greely on Fri., July 12. The Red Sox finished the season with a record of 11-0 finishing first in the league.
The Heat got off to a quick lead scoring the maximum four runs in the top of the first inning. The Red Sox scored three runs in the bottom of the first but trailed 4-3 heading into the second inning. The Heat scored three more runs in the top of the second inning.
The Red Sox scored two in the bottom of the second but left the bases juiced. The Heat went three up and three down in the top of the third inning and the Red Sox made them pay, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third taking their first lead of the game 8-7.
The Red Sox lead didn’t last long as the Heat scored three more runs in the top of the fourth inning taking a 10-8 lead. The Red Sox got two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the fourth but were unable to cash them and trailed 10-8 heading into the fifth inning.
The fifth inning was an unlimited run inning so the teams were allowed to score as many as they could. The Heat scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth putting the heat on the Red Sox. The Red Sox began the inning well, scoring two early runs but the Heat’s defence didn’t allow the Red Sox runners on second and third bases to get home.
The Heat took the game 15-10 in the tournament opener. Scoring the runs for the Red Sox were Alison Roach with four, Margot Guy with a pair and Reese Marriner, Sara Sloane and Emma McRostie each scored singles.
