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.
WOMEN'S FASTBALL AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Posted: Oct 18, 2007