The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) is proud to announce the 2007 Fastball all-stars and major award winners. Players, coaches, administrators and other dignitaries gathered for the 2007 Women’s Fastball Championship Athletic Banquet that took place on Thursday evening at the Holiday Inn Banquet Hall in Oshawa. The celebration kicked off the OCAA championship weekend as games will be taking place on Friday and Saturday at Durham College.

Candice Gatecliffe of the St. Clair Saints was honoured for her outstanding play throughout the regular season as she was named OCAA Player of the Year. St Clair’s team captain is one of the league’s most prolific, fully rounded fastball players as she played multiple positions for the regular season champion Saints. She finished second in pitching with a 1.04 earned run average (ERA) baffling opposing batters averaging 1.2 strikeouts per inning pitched. She also helped the Saints to the league’s top offense with a .379 batting average.

“She is counted on to motivate and lead the team and all the players look up to her.” commented St. Clair College Athletic Coordinator Ted Beale. “She never misses a practice or a game and can be relied on to play any number of key positions defensively when not pitching.”

Head coach Bill Smith noted on a recent radio interview: “Having her on this team simply motivates the other players to play exceptional ball.”

Gatecliffe’s teammates did not go home empty handed as Trisha Whaley earned the OCAA League Batting Championship while Kandice Bagley was voted as the League’s Top Pitcher. Whaley had a terrific regular season as she finished with .571 batting average knocking in 14 RBIs and scoring 13 runs. Bagley led the OCAA in pitching, allowing only three earned runs in 28 innings pitched for a 0.75 ERA.

Kandice was not the only Bagley to walk away with hardware on the night. Her younger sister Keri was recognized as the Rookie of the Year. Keri hit at the top of the Saints batting order all season recording a .344 batting average. She also was the team’s catcher, calling the games for two of the league’s top pitchers.

The other major award winner of the night was Conestoga’s Fawn Day who was recognized as the Coach of the Year. The Condors soared in 2007, winning six of their first seven games enroute to a Championship appearance. Under Day’s leadership, the Condors recorded their first winning record since 1999. Day won the award last season, becoming the first coach to win the award in consecutive years since Bill Smith of St. Clair did it in 2001 and 2002.

AWARD WINNERS:

Regular Season Champions
St. Clair Saints

Player of the Year
Candice Gatecliffe, St. Clair College

Coach of the Year
Fawn Day, Conestoga College

Rookie of the Year
Keri Bagley, St. Clair College

League Batting Champion
Trisha Whaley, St. Clair College (.571)

League Top Pitcher
Kandice Bagley, St. Clair College

League All-Stars
Fran Landry, Cambrian
Tanya Bowman, Cambrian
Mel Voisin, Conestoga
Brittany Horton, Conestoga
Amanda McArthur, Durham
Amanda Ellison, Durham
Ellie Hogg, Mohawk
Jenny Koschanow, Mohawk
Candice Gatecliffe, St. Clair
Trisha Whaley, St. Clair
Rebecca Cunningham, Seneca
Jessica Sheardown, Seneca

The first game of the Championship will take place at 11:00 am as the host Durham Lords (Oshawa) square off against the Conestoga Condors (Kitchener). The St. Clair Saints (Windsor) open up the championship against the Mohawk Mountaineers (Hamilton) at 1:00 pm.

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE:
All games @ Durham College and available online @ sportslive.ca

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 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 more information on the OCAA Women’s Fastball Championship please contact host tournament chairmen, Ken Babcock at Durham College (905) 721-3047 or email ken.babcock@dc-uoit.ca.