RICHMOND HILL PHOENIX BASEBALL CLUB

2008 OBA ‘A’ Minor Bantam Champions

“A team of destiny, with a goal achieved”

After reconstructing the team and reaching the OBA “A” tournament finals in 2007, the Richmond Hill Phoenix Minor bantam team made a few adjustments and developed some new players from the house league division to build momentum for a potential return to the OBA ‘A’ finals in 2008. The team had a very strong regular season finishing in 1^st place in their tier, but the team was knocked out of the YSBA championship tournament in 3 games.

Entering in the final weekend of the 2008 baseball season, they had one goal in mind: try to get back into the finals of the OBA tournament and bring the championship home to Richmond Hill.

They kick-started the tournament with a very exciting 5-4 win edging Martin Grove Express in the bottom of the seventh inning. This was followed with an emotional 12-11 loss to the Peterborough Tigers, knocking Richmond Hill into the losing bracket of this double knock out tournament. However, the team stayed strong and did not give up. They came back firing, defeating Niagara Falls 10-3. For a second time, they played the Peterborough Tigers and beat Peterborough by a resounding score of 21-4, which included an inside the park home run by Kam Lew. The team played the undefeated London Southwest team in the semi-finals. However, the team showed its mental toughness, and used its experience to swing themselves into a 14-4 victory and a trip back to the finals for a second year in a row. Their bats remained hot during the final game as they defeated Guelph 14-4, bringing the championship home to Richmond Hill.

As they look forward to next season, the team’s focus is to develop strong baseball players and athletes through hard consistent practices, good positive leadership, and the drive to excel. The tryouts for the 2008-2009 seasons will commence the week of September 15^th 2008, and the coaching staff encourages all players of any level of experience to come out.

Written by Tom Hayward &Edward Stepanian

2006 Mosquito Rep Bolton Tournament Champions

MOSQUITO REP

July 23,2006

The boys did it again!! They worked hard and went undefeated to become Tournament CHAMPIONS once again.

            The tournament had 12 teams competing in 3 divisions. In round robin play Phoenix handily beat both Sault Ste. Marie and Bolton. Their third game was against Georgetown. This was a real battle with the boys doing everything they could to win. This third win declared them division winners, advancing them to the semi-finals.

               The tournament hosted a skills competition on Saturday. All the boys participated in an event and a number of them came away with medals. Nicholas was third in the longest throw competition and the Round the Horn team of Jason, Daniel, Joseph, Junya, Nicholas and Geoffrey also won third. Our relay runners were not successful in placing in the top 3 but they all battled hard. Congrats to everyone for representing Phoenix well!

            The semi-finals saw Phoenix versus Burlington. The boys played a great defensive game and their bats were in fine form. They started the game with a 8-4 lead in the 1st inning and kept adding runs from there. Burlington couldn't keep their momentum going and were quickly silenced. Burlington was mercied at the end of the 5th. Phoenix advanced to the finals.

               The other semi-finals saw Newmarket, our league rivals, face Whitby. Newmarket could not stand up to the pressure put on them by Whitby and was mercied. This set up the final between Richmond Hill and Whitby. The boys had played Whitby a few times, and they had even played a tournament championship game together. Whitby was determined to give Richmond Hill a battle. They came out swinging but were only able to score 1 run in the first inning. Phoenix's defense was great keeping them off the scoreboard for the remaining innings. Much like the last championship game between the two teams, Phoenix mercied Whitby.

            The team really came together in this tournament. They showed a lot of heart and determination. Congratulations boys!   Be proud of being CHAMPIONS again!   Go Phoenix Go !!!!!

Tournament Summary
           Game 1 vs Sault Ste. Marie    12-4 Win
           Game 2 vs Bolton                   17-1 Win
           Game 3 vs Georgetown          9-8 Win
           Semi-final vs Burlington        23-4 Win
           Finals vs Whitby                    14-1 Win

2006 Mosquito Rep Whitby Tournament Champions

MOSQUITO REP

June 18, 2006

First tournament win of the season. What a great Father's Day gift !

The tournament had 8 teams competing in 2 divisions. In round robin play Phoenix mercied both Brantford and the Mississauga North Bengals and beat host team, Whitby, 12-5. The team played near flawless defense and was batting well in all games. Winning all three round robin games declared them division winners.

The tournament hosted a skills competition on Saturday. 6 of the 8 teams participated in the competion. The first competion was the relay. The Phoenix relay team consisted of Natan, Geoffrey, Daniel and Tyler. They tied for first with Whitby resulting in a second race. This race also resulted in a tie forcing a third race. The third race put Whitby in first and Richmond Hill in second place. The next competition was the King of Swat. Richmond Hill was victorious in this competition with Nicholas hitting 4 out of 5 homeruns. Lastly, an All-Star team was nominated and Geoffrey represented Richmond Hill. Congrats to all that competed in these competions and to those players that helped cheer on their teammates to victory!

The semi-finals saw Phoenix facing North Toronto. Phoenix had never played this team before and did not know what to expect. The boys defense again was very strong and they came out swinging. They slowly worked up a lead and were looking to mercy North Toronto in the fifth but they couldn't get the mercy run. The game went right to 7 innings and ended in a 10-1 win. Richmond Hill advances to the finals.

In the finals they met the host team, Whitby Chiefs. This team was very determined and held Phoenix to a 3-3 tie until the third. Phoenix kept battling, scoring runs to go ahead of Whitby. In the sixth inning the team finished off Whitby by scoring 7 runs. Whitby came up to bat one last time but with 2 strike outs and a routine 6-3 putout they failed to narrow the lead. The result was a mercy in the 6th inning.

All of the boys contributed greatly to the success this weekend. They should all be proud of being a part of such a great team. Congrats boys! Keep up the great work!

Tournament Summary

Game 1 vs Brantford 10-0 Win

Game 2 vs Whitby 12-5 Win

Game 3 vs MNBA Bengals 21-0 Win

Semi-final vs North Toronto 10-1 Win

Finals vs Whitby 15-3 Win

2006 Mosquito Rep Hamilton West Finalist

MOSQUITO REP

Jul 09, 2006

This tournament was a interesting one as the format was very different from other tournaments with lots of ball to be played. Points were not only awarded for wins and ties but for runs scored against. This worked in our favour as the team's defense is solid. The total points gained through 4 round robin games helped rank the teams for the semi-finals.

The tournament had 12 teams competing in 3 divisions. The team handily mercied both Inferno, from New York, and the Burlington Bulls AA. Whitby had an axe to grind with us as we beat them in their tournament. They came out swinging and with the help of some costly errors were able to edge us out of the win.

     Our final round robin game saw us face home town favourites but the boys were able to beat East Mountain as well. The team tallied 22 points in round robin ranking them 2nd over all, 4 points below the #1 ranked team and 1 point above league rivals, Markham and Newmarket. With tie breaking rules Markham took 3rd place setting up a semi-final game against Phoenix. These top four teams played off for the AAA division of the tournament.

     The boys took to the field against Markham with a desire to silence them. And that is exactly what they did. Markham threw one of their best pitchers but that wasn't going to stop Richmond Hill. The boys kept scoring and were able to keep Markham off the scoreboard until the 5th inning. Phoenix closed the game up in the 5th with a mercy. Great work boys!

     Burlington AAA handily took care of Newmarket setting up the game that the team was waiting for, Richmond Hill versus Burlington AAA. A few butterflies caused the boys to get off to a rocky start. Score after the first inning was 6-1 for Burlington. The boys didn't give up. They worked hard each inning adding runs and minimizing runs scored by Burlington. The score going into the 7th inning was 10-8 for Phoenix. Unfortunately Burlington wouldn't give up either and they scored the 2 runs needed to tie the game. In extra innings Burlington was able to score a run ending a well played game by both teams.

     The boys played great ball all weekend. They showed that they can pull it together and rebound after getting off to a rocky start. They should all be proud of their accomplishments this weekend. They deserved the win but came away as AAA finalists.

Game 1 vs New York Inferno   30-4 Win
Game 2 vs Burlington AA        27-2 Win
Game 3 vs Whitby                      5-4 Loss
Game 4 vs East Hamilton          9-5 Win
Semi-final vs Markham              11-1 Win
Finals vs Burlington AAA        11-10 Loss

2007 Major Peewee Rep & CNE Finalist & OBA 'A'

CNE Silver Medalists

Back Row: Tom Hayward, Edward Stepanian, Washon Gow, Jordan Cattapan, Ryan Hayward, Matthew Ravdas, Elliott Trimble, Jeramie Gow, Kam Lew, Karen Trethewey

Front Row: Erin Albaum, Nicholas Preiano, Eric Butler, Matthew Camilleri, Kyle Toghrol, Kaitlin Hauck, Keaton Trethewey

“A great ending to a Cinderella Season

said Head Coach Tom Hayward;

The Major Peewee Rep team had the challenge this year in rebuilding the team as many of the previous year’s team did not return to Richmond Hill to play on this year’s team. Early in the season the team struggled to come together facing early elimination in tournaments and absorbing tough losses. However, at every practice and game all players remained positive, worked hard, and above all played with their hearts.

At the August CNE tournament, the team got off to a quick start building momentum by excellent pitching and strong defense by defeating the Bloordale Peewee A team and the Scarborough Minor Peewee AAA team by the scores of 7-3 and 6-3, respectively. However it was not until the third game that the team’s character and determination came through. Being down by 2 in the top of the 7^th inning to Hamilton, the team rallied back scoring 8 runs that was culminated by a grand slam homerun by catcher Jordan Cattapan, and gave them birth into the semi final with 10-4 victory. In the semi final, the team once again displayed a strong offence and a great defence edging North Toronto 8 – 6 which advanced them into the final of the top tournament in Toronto. They faced the Mississauga Majors, a Peewee AAA team which was ranked second in Ontario, and although they lost, the team brought home the Finalist Cup to the town of Richmond Hill.

Great Job guys!!! Hard work pays off!!

After playing in the CNE tournament the team had no time to rest as they started the OBA “A” Tournament the following night. Losing their first game on Friday night to Royal York 14-10 put them on the verge of elimination in this double knock out tournament. However, the team once again showed their team heart and fighting spirit through the next 5 games that included victories over Walker Homesites, Oshawa, London Tecumsehs and two back-to-back victories over Bolton to make it to the finals. Unfortunately, with hardly any rest in two days, the team fell short of winning the gold medal losing to Sarnia in the championship game bringing home the silver medal as OBA Peewee A finalists.

written by Tom Hayward & Edward Stepanian

OBA Peewee ‘A’ Silver Medalists

2007 Minor Peewee YSBA & RH Tournament Finalist

Game Summary

Game 1	vs Newmarket Hawks	14-4 Win
Game 2	vs Markham Mariners	9-1 Win
Game 3	vs Vaughan Vikings	10-8 Loss
Game 4	vs Vaughan Vikings	10-4 Loss

For the first time in the teams history the team placed first in the YSBA Tier 1 Division. Congrats boys!

The first team RH faced was the Newmarket Hawks. Phoenix played a well disciplined game and were able to mercy Newmarket. Markham was able to defeat Vaughan in their game so this meant that RH's next opponent was Markham. Phoenix's defense was amazing and they kept the pressure on Markham to pull out their second win. With 2 wins the team was the only undefeated team.

Markham was unable to defeat Vaughan a second time which meant that Vaughan would advance to the finals against RH. Vaughan always gave Phoenix some trouble and this game was no different. Vaughan capitalized on a few key errors and Phoenix was not able to score enough runs. Vaughan won the game however they had to defeat RH twice. The next game followed but the team was unable to generate enough offense to beat Vaughan. Vaughan again won naming them the YSBA champions. The boys fought hard and should be proud of what they accomplished. Great work boys!

Richmond Hill tournament Finalist

Game Summary

Game 1 vs Lindsay 19-0 Win

Game 2 vs Martingrove 26-0 Win

Game 3 vs Georgetown 3-0 Loss

Semi-final vs Georgetown 7-0 Win

Finals vs Brampton AAA 8-0 Loss

This tournament was the first one that was hosted by this team. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. The parents showed everyone that Richmond Hill is a great baseball town. Even after severe weather passed through directly before the Friday night games, the diamonds were impeccably groomed. Both Saturday and Sunday a BBQ was setup to provide easy access to food at any time. The team showed their support by going all the way to the finals.

The tournament had 12 teams competing in 3 divisions. The team handily mercied both Lindsay and Martingrove. Georgetown had something to prove as RH had defeated them every meeting in 2006. Unfortunately RH's bats were lacking and Georgetown was able to win. Fortunately RH had the lowest runs scored against and advanced to the semi's as the wild card. Seeding of the 1st place teams saw Georgetown facing RH for the semi-final.

The boys took to the field against Georgetown to show them the real RH team. RH won the game which advanced them to the final against the Brampton Royals. Brampton got a good start and unfortunately RH could not catch up. Brampton walked away as champions of the RH tournament. The boys played a spirited game but somehow couldn't muster the energy to battle the Royals. Good work boys!

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