SOUTH DUNDAS – It took the final game of the season to secure the Williamsburg Major Green Pioneers a place in the playoff tournament July 13-15. The team secured their spot with a 10-6 over the Kemptville Wildcats blue team July 11th.
The first game of the tournament was a Pioneer battle, with the Major Greens taking on the Major White squad. Green doubled White 14-7.
“This game was closer than the score indicated,” said Green coach Brian Shaver.
Green’s bullpen of Cam Shaver, Hudson Urquhart and Carter O’Brien combined for 11 strikeouts over five innings, allowing seven runs and eight hits in the game.
O’Brien had a triple in the first inning, with five runners crossing the plate in that inning for the Greens. The team also added two runs in the second, three in the fourth and four in the fifth.
The White Pioneers trailed throughout the game earning three runs in the first and four in the third innings. The Green Pioneers’ final four runs in the fifth sealed their fate, earning the team their first win in the playoffs 14-7.
The Pioneers didn’t have as good of luck against the Winchester Sox, who defeated the Green Pioneers in their second game of round robin play 6-1. The Sox strong bullpen silenced the Pioneers bats until the sixth inning when Devon Honders crossed the plate on a Shaver RBI. By then it was too late to recover.
Luckily for the Pioneers, their match against the Kemptville Wildcat green team had a favourable result.
Shaver and Urquhart combined for seven strikeouts and allowed only ten hits in the 9-4 win over Kemptville.
The Pioneers took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, which was countered by the Wildcats in the second. Kemptville led 2-1 going into the third inning when five runners crossed the plate for Williamsburg, allowing them to retake the lead 6-2.
Kemptville added two more runs in the bottom of the third, cutting Williamsburg’s lead to two runs. Terrence Mudde’s bases loaded triple in the fourth inning earned him three RBI’s and the Pioneers a 9-4 victory.
The win put them at a record of two wins, one loss, which landed the team a by directly into the league championship match.
The championship pegged the Major Green Pioneers in a rematch against the Winchester Sox.
“[Winchester] hit the ball well and played mistake free,” said coach Brian Shaver.
The Sox held the Pioneers to a single run in the fourth inning, defeating the Pioneers 12-1 to claim this year’s Major championship.
“We had a great year despite the ending,” Shaver said.