Predators claim fourth regional title

On Friday, Oct. 3 and Saturday, Oct. 4, Bay d'Espoir Academy played host to the 3A Boys Central Regional Softball Qualification tournament.

Teams from King Academy, Harbour Breton; St. Anneway Kegnamogwom, Conne River; Point Leamington Academy, Point Leamington and Bay d'Espoir Academy competed in a round robin tournament for the right to represent the region at the provincial tournament.

The tournament got under way on Friday afternoon, as the Bay d'Espoir Academy Predators topped the St. Anneway Kegnamogwom Eagles 14-0 in five innings. Action got under way bright and early on Saturday morning at the King Academy Warriors earned a 11-7 win over the St. Anneway Kegnamogwom Eagles to drop them to 0-2 in the tournament. In the next game, the Predators used timely hitting and base running to hand the Point Leamington Academy Bulldogs a 12-0 defeat in five innings. The next game of the tournament was a very close game that could have gone either way, but ended with the Eagles picking up their first win of the tournament with a victory over the Bulldogs.

The next game saw a battle of two undefeated teams with the Eagles earning a five inning 11-1 victory over the Warriors to run their record to 3-0. The final game of the tournament was a seesaw battle between the Warriors and Bulldogs with the Point Leamington team pulling out a victory in extra innings. The victory by Point Leamington set up a three-way tie for second place, as the Bulldogs, Eagles and Warriors each had identical 1-2 records. Runs for and runs against was used to break the tie. Using this formula, the Warriors earned the right to face the Predators in the championship game.

The Predators used tight defence and pitching to shut down the bats of the Warriors and used timely hitting and aggressive base running to earn a five inning 17-0 victory and their fourth straight regional banner and the right to represent the central region in the 3A boys provincial tournament in St. Anthony on Oct 24-26.

Zachery Augot was named the most sportsmanlike player of the tournament.

According to the coach of the Bay d'Espoir Academy Predators, Shawn Fowlow, the team is very excited the team's chances at this year's provincials.

"We have a veteran team that has been together for a couple of years, who play very strong defence and are aggressive on the base pads," Mr. Fowlow said. "As we are not a homerun hitting team, the introduction of wooden bats this season by School Sports NL will be an advantage for us. It will enable us to go for the base hits, run hard and not be hurt by the long ball.

"The experience of playing in the Bay d'Espoir Summer Softball League for the past two years certainly has given us real game experience that should help us in the provincial tournament."

Mr Fowlow acknowledged the tremendous support of parents and the community in helping to grow the sport in Bay d'Espoir over the past four years.

"This year we have several parents who are planning to make the eight to nine hour drive to St. Anthony and they have been supportive of fundraisers over the past few years to purchase uniforms and new equipment, as well as transporting their sons to practices and games," Mr. Fowlow said. "The Milltown-Head Bay d'Espoir Recreation Committee has invested a great of time and money in improving the field, laying sods for the outfield, laying a new infield, erecting new fencing and supporting a men's summer league. The Milltown Lions Club has also supported the growth of the sport by erecting a new scoreboard and allowing their building to be used for tournaments.

"Several local businesses have donated team jerseys. Hopefully we have laid the groundwork to enable the sport to grow. This season saw the school form its first girl's team."