Saturday, January 28, 2012
The Kitchener Selects went 2-2 in their first ever appearance on American soil at the 2012 AAU Men's International Fastpitch Tournament, held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
In their first round robin game, the Selects downed AOZ of Oklahoma, 2-1, behind a 16-strikeout performance from Doug Hoffman, who allowed just one unearned run. Jeremy DeLeeuw scored the eventual game-winner on a Mike Brown single. They then fell to the Lanzeros of Venezuela, 10-0, with Marvin Smith taking a tough loss before a strong relief performance from Mike Pullin. In their final round robin game, the Selects met the 2-0 Desert Kings of Mexico. Hoffman pitched another gem, striking out 14 and this time provided the heroics with his bat as well. Down 2-1 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, he laced a walk-off double to right-centre, scoring Craig Sarson and Sean Fitzgibbon for an exciting 3-2 win.
Despite finishing 2-1, the Selects' finished third in their pool due to their plus/minus, drawing an elimination round match-up with the Brewers of Venezuela. Doug Hoffman again got the ball, carrying a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh. Unfortunately, the Brewers rallied with a one-out, two-run triple and, after a pair of intentional walks, a sacrifice fly to right field to secure a 6-5 win, breaking the Selects' hearts and ending their tourney.
Thanks to Herb Beckman, Pete Chambers, Jeremy DeLeeuw, Sean Fitzgibbon, Rick Hames, Mike Pullin, Craig Sarson, Marvin Smith, and Brandon Viol for donning Selects' green for the tourney.