Hubbard Bantams capture WOBA crown
KINCARDINE - St. Marys Hubbard Pharmacy Bantams pounded their way to the WOBA league championship here on the Aug. 22-24 weekend.
The 11-team tournament consisted of teams from as far away as Owen Sound.
St. Marys 13 - Flesherton 2
John Urquhart’s squad came out flying in their opening game on the Friday night.
Brady Wiffen got the nod on the mound and let it be known early that he would be hard to beat. The big righthander tossed three strong innings of one-hit ball, with six strikeouts.
The runs came fast and furious for St. Marys as they scored five in the first, four in the third, and four in the fifth to mercy Flesherton 13-2.
Jesse Hannaberry did a tremendous job of pitching the fifth and final inning.
Top batters for the locals were catcher Taylor Patterson and shortstop Bret Kraemer.
St. Marys 18 - Hanover 0
The Hubbard bats continued to explode as the Bantams never missed a beat against Hanover.
Pitching a gem for St. Marys was the tandem of Eric McRobert and Bret O’Drowsky. McRobert pitched two solid innings with a sore shoulder, and O’Drowsky closed out Hanover with three shutout innings.
For the second straight game, the mercy rule took effect after five innings.
Top Hubbard batters were Taylor Patterson with a huge home run to centre field, and Bret Kraemer also with a round-tripper. Both of these home runs were tape-measure blasts. Also contributing offensively were second baseman Brendan Near and third baseman Adam White.
Defensively, the locals were flawless.
Undefeated game
The Hubbard Bantams then received a bye to the undefeated game with Exeter. This strong Exeter squad was ready and willing to take on their St. Marys counterparts.
Brett Kraemer got the nod and did not disappoint as he threw five strong innings and kept the Exeter batters off balance with his superb mix of fastballs and off-speed pitches.
Lead-off batter Travis McEwan had a great morning at the plate with two hits and three runs scored. Also contributing heavily with the bat were Eric McRobert, Kevin Bilyea and Adam White.
Taylor Patterson came in to close out the deal over the last two innings. Final score: St. Marys 8, Exeter 2.
St. Marys 16 - Listowel 0
Because of a complicated formula, the Hubbard Bantams—who were the only undefeated team left—were not allowed to go straight to the final. Instead, they had to play Listowel.
The locals took their frustration out on the Listowel pitching staff.
Once again, lead-off batter McEwan started the rally—driving the first pitch he saw into left-centre field. St. Marys went on to score three times in the top of the first.
Defensive standouts were second baseman Russell McIntosh, third baseman Josh Matheson and first baseman Scott Anderson.
Getting the nod for St. Marys was Brady Wiffen, who once again threw four strong innings. Jesse Hannaberry came in to close out the game.
Wiffen, Patterson and Fraser Urquhart drove in runs for the locals, who scored runs in bunches and cruised to a 16-0 victory.
Championship game
The championship game was played immediately after the one-sided Listowel affair. Exeter Royals had worked their way back to the final, but they would have to defeat St. Marys twice for any thoughts of a Western title.
OBA rules stipulate that unless both coaches agree, four games cannot be played by a team in one day.
This would be the third game for both teams on the Sunday. If St. Marys lost, the second and deciding game would have to be played in St. Marys at a later date because the Exeter coaching staff chose not to play a second game if it became necessary.
This was a see-saw battle right from the first pitch, with neither side willing to give an inch.
St. Marys scored first, with two runs early on hits by McEwan, Kraemer and Patterson. Exeter came right back with runs in the bottom of the first to tie it 2-2. The Hubbard crew knew they were in a ball game.
Once again, St. Marys took the lead in the third with a four-run rally. Key hits were provided by outfielder Bilyea and starting pitcher Eric McRobert.
In the bottom of the sixth, with St. Marys clinging to a 6-4 lead, they felt the wrath of the Exeter third baseman Jake Ringette as he belted a three-run bomb over the left-field fence to give his team a 7-6 advantage.
The Hubbard bench was quiet for the first time all weekend, but with great determination decided that as a team they would give it their best in the seventh and the chatter and hustle came back to life.
Championship hit
Things, however, didn’t look good in the seventh with two quick outs, and Taylor Patterson stranded on second base. Scrappy Kevin Bilyea worked a walk out of Exeter ace Chris Pfaff.
Both runners advanced a base, and it was up to first baseman Fraser Urquhart to keep St. Marys’ hopes alive.
After fouling off several tough pitches and working the count to full, Urquhart drilled a screamer to left-centre field to score both runners.
“It was just one example of the no quit attitude of the entire team,” skipper John Urquhart remarked.
Taylor Patterson came in to pitch an uneventful seventh as the Exeter batters went down in order. Final score: St. Marys 8, Exeter 7.
Top defensive players were Patterson behind the plate, Urquhart at first and Near at second. The entire outfield of White, McEwan and Bilyea were also terrific, the coaches noted.
Top batters were shortstop Kraemer and Adam White.
“This was an entire team effort. All 14 players contributed in many ways to make this a successful weekend,” the coaching staff reported.
Upcoming: The Hubbard Bantams competed in the OBA (provincial) tournament this past Labour Day weekend in Listowel.