ALVINSTON SHARES TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP

The Alvinston Indians traveled to Port Huron this past weekend for the Port Huron Qualifying tournament.  Alvinston had previously qualified at last week's qualifier in Innerkip, however, they enjoyed the Port Huron tournament last year, and couldn't wait for their return visit, in the very comfortable and friendly confines of Pine Grove Park.  12 teams were on hand, with 4 teams in each of the 3 round robin divisions.
 
The Indians opened up on Friday evening, against Mickey's from Michigan at 9:30pm.  Alvinston faield to score in the first, but exploded for 5 runs in the second inning, while adding singles in each of the 4th and 5th innings, to mercy their competitors 7-0 in 5 innings.  Brad Young pitched a tidy game, allowing no runs on 1 hit, with 1 walk, and 7 strikeouts, to earn the shutout.  The big hit was Ryan Chapman's two out triple, that scored all three runners on base, and made the game 5-0 which was the decisive hit for Alvinston.  Joe Triest was 3/3 in the game, with 2 singles, a double, 1 RBI, 1 scored run, and a walk.  While Andy Triest had a storng night at the dish as well, going 2/2, with 2 singles, a walk, and 1 run scored.  Mark McCallum, Chris Drew, Scott Smith, Jeff Ingram, and Brad Young, scored the other runs for Alvinston, while McCallum, J. Triest, Steve Donald, and Theo Metron drove in the other Alvinston runs. 
 
In game 2 late Saturday morning, the Alvinston contingent faced off against the Duncan Outlaws.  The Indians scored a run in the first, when J. Triest and McCallum each walked, and eventually scored on an RBI single by catcher Scott Smith.  The Indians bats then went dormant until the 5th inning, when they finally added two more insurance runs.  McCallum led off with a triple, while Drew then followed with a walk, to put runners on first and third.  That was Brad Young's cue to smack a double into the gap, to score both McCallum and Drew, for the 3-0 lead.  The Indians then went back to work in the 6th, adding 4 more add-on runs, and ending the game, by way of the mercy rule, and a 7-0 win.  Donald walked to lead off the inning, followed by Eric Hyatt who singled.  Joe Triest then swatted a double to score Donald, followed by McCallum, who ended the game with a 3-run homerun and blast, scoring both Hyatt and J. Triest.  John Ferguson pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings for Alvinston, and captured the win, as he was up 1-0 when he was relieved by Shaun Winship, who shut the door in relief pitching 1 2/3 innings.  Joe Triest and Mark McCallum each had mutihit games for the Indians in the win, as Triest was 2/3, with 2 runs scored, a double, and an RBI double.  McCallum was 2/2, with a triple, homerun, 3 RBI's, 2 runs, a sacrifice and a walk. 
 
Game 3 featured two undefeated teams as Alvinston sqaured off against the Shakespeare Falcons.  The winner would be the first seed in the division, while the loser would be the second seed.  The game remained tight over the first two innings, but in the top of the third, Alvinston exploded for 4 runs, to break the game wide open.  Andy Triest got it all going with a one out single, but got out on second on a fielder's choice for the innings second out.  McCallum and Drew then both singled, with Drew's driving in Joe Triest, for the game's first run.  Brad Young then fought his way to walk, to load the bases, which set the scene for Jeff Ingram, who belted a triple, and earning himself 3 RBI's, and a 4-0 lead for his team.  Young was on the mound, and controlled the Shakespeare offence, allowing 3 hits and a walk over 5 innings of work to earn the eventual shutout win, while he also fanned 6 Shakespeare swingers.  Winship came in in relief, and shut the door, with one inning of work and 2 strikeouts.  The game was only a 6 inning game, as the mercy came into effect, because Alvinston added 3 more runs in the top of the sixth, for the 7-0 win.  Ingram got his second extra base hit of the game when he doubled, and then scored on an RBI single by Scott Smith.  Theo Metron then singled, to put runners on first and third, and Shawn Fenton followed with a sacrifice fly for Alvinston, scoring Smith from third base.  Andy Triest then drove in the last Indians run when he singled.  The final score was 7-0, and Jeff Ingram and Andy Triest both had multihit games for Alvinston to pace their attack. 
 
With a 3-0 record, the Indians earned first place overall in the seeding for the tournament, as after three games, they had scored 21 runs, and allowed none.  They faced off against Mickey's, the eighth seed, in the first game of the playoff portion of the tournament.  Alvinston got to work early, when Joe Triest singled, advanced to second on a sac bunt by McCallum, and would eventually score, along with Brad Young who had walked earlier in the inning, on a 2 out 2 RBI single by Scott Smith.  The Indians however, failed to add to their lead, and they finally allowed their first runs against, in the sixth inning, when Mickey's were able to score 3 runs off of Indians starter Shaun Winship.  In the seventh, the Indians had to tie or their previously strong start to the tournament, would be all for not.  Ingram got things going in the seventh with a single, while Winship walked to put two runners on with nobody out.  Theo Metron came to the plate, and reached base safely on a fielder's choice, as Winship was put out by way of the force play at second.  With one out, Andy Triest executed the suicide sacrifice squeeze play to perfection, as he plated Ingram for the tying run of the game.  That forced the game to extra innings, and Jeff Ingram ended up plating Chris Drew with an RBI single with 1 out, to push Alvinston to the semi-finals.  Final score was Alvinston 4, Mickey's 3.  Shaun Winship earned the win, pitching 9 innings of work, allowing 5 hits, 5 walks, 3 earned runs, and fanning 10 Mickey's swingers. 
 
In the semi-final game, the Indians faced off against a very tough opponent, being the Ashland Stockpack.  Ashland scored first in the second inning, and added another in the fourth inning.  Shaun Winship started, but was relieved by Young in the third inning, who continued to pitch for the remainder of the game.  The game remained 2-0 until the bottom of the sixth, when Alvinston finally got busy with the bats.  McCallum singled, and then scored on a timely RBI triple by Chris Drew.  Young then came to the plate and hit a sacrifice ply to score Drew, to knot the game at 2's.  Both teams failed to score in the seventh, however Ashland made a big splash in the eighth, counting two runs, and seemingly being en route to victory, and advancing to the finals.  However, Alvinston made another huge comeback.  With Andy Triest at second base, Chris Drew singled, and Brad Young singled, which plated Triest.  Scott Smith was then next to the plate, and hit a bloop single just out of reach of the outfielder to even the score again at 4.  Alvinston had a chance to win it, with runners on first and third, however, they failed to get the next big hit, to end the game, and then...the skies opened up, and the tournament would be cancelled, with three teams sharing the prize money.  Ashland, Alvinston, and Waterdown who was waiting for the winner of the semi-final game, all shared the prize money. 
 
All-in-all, the Indians went to Port Huron short many key players, and bodies, and still played great ball.  The pitching staff and defence should be commended for three shutout games, all of the 7-0 variety in the round robin portion.  And, the offence can't be blamed either, counting 29 runs in 5 games of work, and battling hard in both the quarter and semi-finals, to push for each run, and to keep the team alive when they were on the brink of defeat.  In 5 games of ball, the Indians allowed only 7 runs, a very commendable number.  The Indians brought former players Shawn Fenton, Theo Metron, Kevin Morgan, and Mark Saunders out of their brief retirements, to help out in the tournament, so that the squad had enough bodies and players to compete successfully, and aid in the teams' achievements.  They did just that, posting a 4-0-1 record in the tournament, and posting another strong weekend.  The Indians are undefeated in their past 13 tournament games, and they have a tournament record of 14-2-1 on the season (over 4 tournaments of competition).     
 
Thanks to the fans and people of Port Huron for playing great hosts to us, for the second year in a row.  Great facilities, great people, great fans, and great fastball.