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The Alvinston Indians travelled to St. Thomas for the O.A.S.A Ontario Elimination Tournament and turned in their most impressive results on the ball diamond this season. They were dominant this past weekend in all aspects of the game, and beat some big teams, as they captured the 2007 O.A.S.A Ontario Elimination Tournament Championship. Thirteen teams from across Ontario competed in the tournament, including most of Ontario's premier intermediate teams.
In game #1 on Friday evening, Alvinston opened up against the Owen Sound Crunch, and got their bats going early in the tournament, as they mercied Owen Sound 8-0 in five innings. The Indians sent former Owen Sound native Doug Charlton to the mound, and he impressed. Charlton threw five innings, allowing three hits, 1 walk, while striking out 1, to earn the shutout victory. On the offence, Joe Triest and Mike Black paced the Indians attack. Joe Triest was 3/3, with 2 singles, a 2-run homerun, 2 runs, and 3 RBI's. Mike Black was 4/4 with 2 triples, 2 singles, 2 runs, and 2 RBI's. Also scoring for the Indians were Ryan Swift, Theo Metron, Mark Saunders, and Andy Triest. Also driving in runs were Greg Huston (2), and Metron.
Alvinston's next game was on Saturday against the ISC II #3 ranked Tavistock Merchants. Alvinston climbed out to 1-0 lead in the first inning, but Tavistock doubled Alvinston with 2 runs of their own, for a 2-1 lead. Alvinston tied the game in the fourth inning, and then finally took the lead in the fifth with 2 runs, and went on to add 4 runs in the sixth inning. At the end of the game, Alvinston had clawed their way to a 8-3 convincing victory. Ryan Swift earned the win for the Indians, pitching all 7 innings, allowing 7 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), while fanning 5 Tavistock swingers. The Alvinston Indians pounded out 16 hits in the game, with numerous players earning impressive line scores, and leading the Alvinston offence. Theo Metron was 3/4 with 2 singles, a triple, 2 runs, and an RBI. Shawn Fenton did the same, going 3/4 as well with 3 singles, and 3 RBI's. Ditto for Ryan Swift, who was also 3/4 at the plate with 3 singles, and 3 RBI's. Joe Triest was also a member of the three hit club for the Indians going 3/5 with 2 singles, a double, and 2 runs scored. Mike Black (2), and Ryan Chapman (2), scored the other four runs in the game for for the Indians. Greg Huston drove in what turned out to be the game winning RBI, when he pushed Metron across the plate.
The tournament was a round robin format, with 3 divisions of 3, and 1 division of 4. After your 2 round robin games, you were seeded one thru three in each division, entering a single elimination playoff round. Alvinston finished first in their division with their 2-0 record, and crossed over to face the Palermo Athletics.
The Palermo Athletics are the ISC II #5 ranked team, and the Indians knew they were in tough. However, the Indians offence was up to the task, as they had been in the two previous games. Alvinston opened the scoring in the second inning, when Ryan Chapman singled, advanced to second base on a sac bunt by Doug Charlton, and then eventually scored on an RBI single by Greg Huston. In the third inning, Alvinston piled on the offence, recording six consecutive singles, and scoring three runs in the process, for a commanding 4-0 lead. Scott Smith, Joe Triest, and Chapman scored, with Theo Metron, Chapman, and Charlton driving in the runs. The Indians sent veteran pitcher Doug Charlton to the mound, and he was dominant falling just short of his second shutout victory in the tournament, as Palermo counted their only run in the seventh inning. Charlton threw the entire 7 innings, allowing 1 run (unearned), on 4 hits, with 8 strikeouts. Final score was Alvinston 4, Palermo 1.
On Sunday morning, the Alvinston Indians found themselves in the semi-finals, against the same team they lost to in the semi-finals of the 2005 ISC II Torunament of Champions, that being the Elmira Cubs. Alvinston climbed out to an early 2-0 lead in their half of the second inning, when after a Ryan Chapman walk with one out, Shawn Fenton doubled into the gap scoring Chapman. Fenton then came around to score on an RBI single by Mike Black. Elmira however, clawed back in the game, replying with two runs of their own in the third inning, to tie the game. Alvinston went back to work in the fourth inning, as they took the lead 3-2. Chapman lead off the inning with a double, and then advanced to third when Fenton reached base on an error. That set the stage for Andy Triest, who promtly executed the suicide squeeze to perfection, plating Chapman from third base. The Indians then added an all important insurance run in the fifth inning. Joe Triest singled, and advanced to second on a Ryan Swift sac bunt. Theo Metron then came to the plate, and hit a clutch RBI single to score Joe Triest. This run proved to be important, as Elmira creeped close with a solo homerun in the seventh, that made the game close at 4-3. That was as close as Elmira would get though, as Doug Charlton came in relief of Swift after the solo homerun, and earned 3 straight outs (2 strikeouts) to earn the save. Elmira was a strong team 1-9 in the order, and Indians pitcher Ryan Swift had the task of limiting their offensive output. Swift did just that, pitching into the seventh inning, and earning the victory. Swift allowed only five hits, walked 2, struckout 5, allowing 3 runs, in which only 2 were earned. Final score was Alvinston 4, Elmira 3, with Alvinston now advancing to the finals, with a chance to earn an Ontario Championship.
The Alvinston Indians were now in the finals, against the ISC II #9 ranked Port Elgin Blue Devils. The Indians had previously lost to Port Elgin on three occasions this season already, but in this all-important game, Alvinston proved to be better. The Indians piled on the runs early scoring 1 run in the first, 3 runs in the second, and 1 more run in the third inning, setting them up to an early 5-0 lead. Port Elgin replied with 1 run in the fourth, to make the score 5-1, but Alvinston replied with 1 more run in the sixth inning, to make it 6-1. Port Elgin threatened with four consecutive singles in the seventh inning with 2 out, but counted only 2 runs, and Alvinston went on to capture their first O.A.S.A Intermediate Men's Elimination Tournament Championship, with a 6-3 victory. Mike Black, Joe Triest, Ryan Swift, and Ryan Chapman were all 2/4 in the finals, with Chapman providing the long ball, as he crushed a solo home run in the third inning. Scoring for the Indians were Andy Triest (2), Chapman, Black, Scott Smith, and Joe Triest. Driving in the runs were Chapman (2), Black, Joe Triest, and Swift. Doug Charlton pitched phenomenally in the finals, allowing only 6 hits to the potent Port Elgin offence, while striking out 5, to earn the championship win.
All in all, the Alvinston Indians finished 5-0 on the weekend, as they were crowned the O.A.S.A Intermediate Men's Ontario Champions. Charlton pitched 20 innings on the weekend, allowing only 3 earned runs. The Indians offence was hard at work, amassing 30 runs in the five games, and their team batting average was an impressive .395, with Joe Triest, Ryan Swift, Mike Black and Ryan Chapman all batting .500 or better. It was definitely a memorable weekend for the Indians, as they hope to carry on this momentum onto the ISC II Tournament of Champions in Kitchener, August 14-18.
