Monday, May 18, 2015
The Selects continued their solid early-season play at the annual Woodstock Victoria Weekend Tournament, going 3-0 to win their division before dropping their first game of the year in a tough quarterfinal match-up against the Waterdown Hammer.
The Selects opened with a 10-7 win over a scrappy Owen Sound Jrs. squad on Saturday morning, erasing an early 3-0 deficit. Kevin Ryrie, Justin Krulicki, Chad Fink, Brett Pfeifer, Darren Strickland, and Mike Welton all posted multi-hit games in the win.
In their second game, the Selects led wire-to-wire, defeating the Moravian A's 5-2 behind a strong effort from Shayne Riepert, who allowed two runs on four hits while striking out 12 for the complete game victory. Welton led the offense with a 2-3 night that included a walk, a triple, and a run scored.
That set up a showdown with the Woodstock Kelseys, also 2-0, for the top seed in the division on Sunday afternoon. The Selects jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but the hometown Kelseys quickly responded, leading 3-1 after two innings. Fast-forward to the top of the seventh, with two outs and nobody on, and the score remained unchanged. But the Selects still had some fight in them.
Tim Coverdale and Riepert stroked back-to-back pinch-hit singles and Krulicki cashed Coverdale with a single of his own. After Mike Brown worked a walk to load the bases, Fink - who battled hard through six innings on the mound - smashed a three-run triple to put the Selects in front 5-3. Riepert came on in relief and allowed a leadoff home run to Mike Pullin before retiring three straight to preserve the thrilling 5-4 win.
Alas, the Selects' reward for their perfect round-robin record was a date with the Waterdown Hammer that would end their undefeated start to 2015. The veteran Hammer squad jumped ahead 6-0 before the Selects got on the board with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. It was as close as they'd get, as the Hammer hitters lived up to their name, riding a potent offense to a 12-3 win.
Still, the Selects put together an excellent weekend and will look to continue their strong play as they pick things up in the KFL this week. The team would like to thank Justin Krulicki for once again donning Selects' green this weekend.