The U12 softball team put a cap on their excellent season Saturday in their final tournament at UCC. As the two time defending champions and first place team in the division the team knew they had a big target on their back as all the other teams wanted to claim the championship as their own.
Determined not to go easily, the team took the field at 9am to face Montcrest. Although Montcrest started the scoring by posting 3 runs, Crestwood answered with 4 runs and would go on to make sure that Montcrest would not score any more for the rest of the game. With an amazingly tight defence, Crestwood would go on to finish the game with an impressive 16 – 3 victory.
Moving on to the semi-finals, the U12’s had to face RSGC who did not show up for their game last Wednesday so the team didn’t know what to expect. Playing the most impressive defence the U12’s had seen all season RSGC held us to a 4-0 lead going into the 4th inning. After scoring a single run for themselves the Cubs decided it was really time to focus and start swinging, finishing the game 11-1 for Crestwood.
After a hearty lunch and a two-hour break, the U12’s took to the field against division rivals Country Day School for the championship final. Winning home field advantage Crestwood took the field, but Country Day capitalized scoring 2 early runs. Country Day maintained the lead until the bottom of the second inning when Crestwood scored 5 runs. Not going down without a fight, Country Day responded with 5 runs of their own taking the lead back.
As we moved into the final inning, Crestwood led the game 11-8. With their last chance to tie it up, Country Day swung hard, but the strong pitching and defence let Crestwood nail 3 quick outs solidifying an impressive victory and record 3 repeat championship titles.
Although they couldn’t be at the final tournament, Cole Eichler, Peter Keane and Dylan Adud were essential to Crestwood getting another championship. Throughout the tournament there was strong fielding from Lorenzo Mancini, Ethan Gazer, Dustin Silverberg and Michael Fisher. Jack Hendry, Alex Korda and Gys Noteboom had the infield locked down while Luke Hamblin and Cole Marotta made an unbelievable pitcher/catcher tandem. Captain Colin MacLauchlan helped lead the team in a strong way with dynamite play at first base, but also an impressive 3 home runs and 16 RBI’s.
Both coach Cooper and coach Starr are proud of the development the team showed and their resolve despite being shorthanded several times throughout the season. Great Job boys and congrats to our graduating players! We’ll be looking to defend our title again next year.