HTKP TOURNAMENT.

Help the Kids Play Tournament 
 July 6,7,8, 2012

Over the last two seasons we have put a team in the Help the Kids play tournament. This season is no different, we have entered our team and it is great that almost the whole team is playing, we played with 11 players and zero subs. Last season we picked up 4 players for the tournament, we picked up Dean C., Steve D., John T. and Chris R., it was a fun weekend... We also played four games in the round robin and we were perfect going 4-0. In the elimination round we lost to the Lucky Stiffs 10-9 and our tourney was done...If I recall we had the tying run on third base. 

Our tournament had come to an end, but we came away, as a team, with a strong positive outlook for the rest of the season. This tournament really serves multi purposes for the Hurtin' Units, it always seems to be the strongest team bonding point in the season and second, the monies raised in this tournament go to helping local children, who can't afford to play sports, giving them opportunity to play... Special thanks have to out to all the people who play and donate their time to this tournament. I would also like to thank Dave Polny from Coras resturants and Dave Fleming from Tottenham Home Hardware for their generous donations...

Friday July 6, 2012 - Game # 1 Hurtin' Units vs. Dogcatchers...

 Hurtin' Units win 20-19

The Hurtin' Units played the Dogcatchers on opening night of season and it certainly wasn't  an offensive  battle, the teams sawed off with a 5-5 tie.

In this tournament the Units won the coin toss and we were to take the field as the home team, but before we took the field, we gathered at the bench for a shot of Sambuca. 

This first game of the HTKP tournament was at bit more of a offensive  tilt with Dogcatchers. The game went back and forth and going in to the bottom of the seventh inning, the Units were down by 3 runs. Craig S was lead off in the bottom of the inning and started off with a in the park homerun (his 2nd of the game), up next was Gord R (3rd) but Gord was hurting a little and was the first out. The next batter was Al H., Al got on with a single, I followed Al and also got on with a single. With runners on first and second, Gord R. (SS) came up next and hit a line drive in to the glove of the left fielder. With two out Anicete came up and hit another single, driving Al to third and myself to second. With the bases loaded, down by two runs, tying run at second, Clayton came up and drove the ball to the outfield for a double, all three runners on base came around to score... Hurtin' Units win 20-19.  

Saturday July 7, 2012 - Game # 2 Hurtin' Units vs. The Grisslies.

Hurtin' Units win 12-7 



Cousin Eddie, part of the Griswold family.

 It's sometimes difficult to sit around and wait for the game, I personally like to play most of my tournament games in the same day. This was not to be the case in this tournament, we had our first game late on Friday evening and our second at 2:30pm on Saturday.

"Chicks dig me"

This game had a little bit of Grisslies fun swirling around it as the Grisslies made some light hearted fun at their co-captain Doug Dwyer. The Grisslies had made signs and pictures of Doug with the phrase "Chicks dig Me" and they were posted around the diamond, even home plate, and we were asked to wear stickers during the game.

As we did in our first game, we gathered around and toasted a good game with a shot of Sambuca. This was a close game and with a bad break to either side it could swung in favor of the other team. The Hurtin' Units hitting was bang on again, the batting order seems to be working well and our defense is gelling together nicely. Craig continues to carry a hot stick (that just sounds funny) and hit another home run in this game, 3 in the park homeruns in 2 games... We looked real solid in this game and I really sense the confidence growing... Next game Sunday at 9:00am.

Sunday July 8, 2012 - Game # 3 Hurtin' Units vs. The Woodys...

Hurtin' Units win 12-2
 

This game was really a game the Hurtin Units needed to win. The round robin standings were very close, only 4 of the 12 teams make the semi finals and there were still a lot of teams still in the hunt. This game ended up being a defensive gem, our defense made some really nice plays, Al H and Gord (3rd) both made line drive catches on the infield and the outfield were challenged by some strong Woodys bats.

The Hurtin' Units offense scored some timely runs and the final result was a 12-2 victory and a birth in the semi-final vs. the Brew Jays.




Sunday July 8, 2012 - Game # 4 Hurtin' Units vs. the Brew Jays...

Hurtin' Units lose 12-5

Our wait between the win against the Woodys game and the semi final game was only about an hour and fifteen minutes. This gave most of us a little break, we were scheduled to work the bar at 11:00 am, but because we had a game at 11:30 am we really couldn't do it, Craig and Clayton helped out in the bar for bit before our game.

As we had in all of our other games, we toasted a good game with a shot of Sammy and started the game as the visitors. The seeding determined home field team in this game, we were the third seed and the Brew Jays were the second...

The Units took an early lead in this game scoring 2 runs in the first. We shut the Brew Jays down in the bottom of the inning. In the second, the Units scored another 2 runs, but in the bottom of the inning the Jays scored 7 runs on a bunch of solid hits. In the third the Units would bring around another single run and close the door again on the Jays. After 3 innings of play the score was 7-5 Jays. The score would remain the same until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Jays would score 5 more runs to make the score 12-5. In the top of the seventh the Units couldn't get any kind of rally going and the score remained 12-5 for the Jays. The Units would lose the game, but the tournament will definitely help in the regular season games still to be played... Great job guys!! 



The Pieman



The Brew Jays would go on to face the Dusty Cleats in the finals and would squeak out a 23-22 victory in the late innings to win the Help the Kids Play tournament. The Pieman would be the hero, hitting a grand slam homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the game... Congratulations Brew Jays...