Received: 10/16/07 2:11:23 PM From: "Mal Swift" <malswift(at)rogers.com>
Subject: OCAA Women's Fastball Championships -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oshawa, ON DURHAM LORDS MEDIA RELEASE October 16 LORDS FASTBALL SET TO HOST OCAA WOMENS FASTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS Oshawa - The top four Womens Fastball teams in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) will descend on Oshawa this weekend as Durham College is set to host the 2007 Womens Fastball Championship at Durham Fields from October 19-20, 2007. This double knockout championship will highlight the top four teams from the regular season. The defending champion and host college Durham Lords (9-1) will kick things off on Friday morning when they play the Conestoga Condors (6-4) at 11:00 am, while the second game of the first round will feature the regular season champion St. Clair Saints (9-1) versus the Mohawk Mountaineers (3-7) at 1:00 pm. Entering as the number two seed are the defending champions, Durham Lords, who finished the season with a 9-1 record. The Lords are led once again by 2006 Player of the Year, Danielle Smith (Oshawa). Smith had a successful sophomore season posting an 8-1 record with a 1.21 ERA, while finishing tied for second in OCAA hitting with a .520 batting average. Veteran team-mates Vanessa Chaborek (Windsor) and Amanda Ellison (Listowel) also had fine seasons at the plate combining for a total of 20 runs and 13 RBIs. The Lords womens fastball program has built one of the most accomplished resumes in the OCAA finishing on the medal podium 23-times in the last 25-years of play, collecting 13 provincial titles. The Lords will look to win their second consecutive OCAA gold medal in front of their hometown crowd as they are set to open the Championship facing the Conestoga Condors at 11:00 am. The St. Clair Saints (Windsor) enter the championship as the number one seed after clinching their first ever regular season title with a 9-1 record, scoring a league high 97 runs while holding opponents just 13 runs scored. The Saints have one of the most feared pitching staffs in the OCAA, as the duo of Kandice Bagley (5-0) and Candice Gatecliffe (3-1) were first and second in ERA in the league respectively. Second year infielder Trisha Whaley is the leader of the Saints offence as she won the OCAA batting title with an average of .571. The Saints offence was in-sync all year as six of the top ten hitters in the league play for St. Clair. The Saints won their first and only OCAA Championship in 2005, putting an end to the Durham Lords streak of three consecutive titles. The Saints are set to open the 2007 Championship on Friday against the number four-seeded Mohawk Mountaineers at 1:00 pm. St. Clair and Durham both finished the season with matching 9-1 records. The two teams split their season series, each winning by a run. The regular season title was award to St. Clair based on run differential against the next highest ranked team, the Conestoga Condors. St. Clair had a run differential of +24 while Durham was +22. St. Clair and Durham have built quite the rivalry in womens fastball as they have met in the gold medal game in each of the past two championships, with St. Clair winning in 2005 and Durham winning in 2006. The number three seed Conestoga Condors (Kitchener) got off to a quick start winning six of their first seven games of the regular season and posted their first winning record since 1999. Much of the tremendous turnaround of the program can be attributed to the 2006 Coach of the Year Fawn Day. Day has her players motivated and playing hard game in and out. Another reason for the turnaround was the performance of second year short-stop Melissa Voisin. With an average of .520, Voisin finished the year tied for second in batting average. The Condors also have a deep pitching rotation as veterans Laura Matheson, Pamela Paterson and Lindsay Bosomworth all pitched in multiple games this season. The Condors are in search of their sixth Championship title and have collected the fourth most OCAA medals in womens fastball history with eleven. Conestoga opens the Championship against the host Durham Lords at 11:00 am on Friday. The Mohawk Mountaineers (Hamilton) closed out the regular season with a 3-7 record, securing the fourth and final playoff spot this past week after defeating the Seneca Sting 7-1. The game was a must win for Mohawks playoff hopes and the Mountaineers pulled it off behind winning pitcher Jenny Koschanows seven strikeouts, raising her career total to 190 over three seasons. Jenny Koschanow saw the majority of the pitching action this season with the departure of Katie Westoby. Koschanow took the reins and ran with the job as she finished in second in the league in strikeouts and innings pitched. The Mountaineers offence was strengthened with the addition of rookies Katie Mattice and Ellaina Hogg, who finished the season ranked eighth and ninth respectively in OCAA batting average. In the past 15 years, the womens fastball program at Mohawk has finished in the top three 13 times with one gold and twelve bronze medals. CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE: Thursday, October 18, 2007 OCAA Championship Awards Banquet: Holiday Inn, Oshawa 7:00pm Friday, October 19, 2007 Game 1: Durham vs. Conestoga 11:00am Game 2: St. Clair vs. Mohawk 1:00pm Game 3: Losers of Games 1 and 2 3:00pm Game 4: Winners of Games 1 and 2 5:00pm Saturday, October 20, 2007 Bronze Medal Game: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 - 11:00am *Loser awarded Bronze, winner advances to Gold Medal Round Gold Medal Game #1: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Bronze Medal Game 1:00pm Gold Medal Game #2: If Necessary 3:00pm A complete championship schedule including game times and results will be available online at the OCAA website: www.ocaa.com. For Further Information: Cory Lusted Sports Information & Marketing Officer Athletic Department @ Durham College/UOIT cory.lusted(at)dc-uoit.ca (905) 721-3111 x. 2784 www.durhamlords.com Al's Fastball News *Email: fastball(at)pmihrm.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] NEWS-1: http://www.AlsFastball.com/ NEWS-2: http://fastpitchwest.com/alsfastball VIA http://www.webbox.com
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