OWEN SOUND, Ont. — OWEN SOUND, ONT. – It was a solid performance against tough competition.
The Colchester Royals were eliminated at the 2019 U19 Men’s Canadian Fast Pitch Championship Saturday as they lost 8-2 to Kitchener-Waterloo (ON) Hallman Twins.
The Royals finished the 12-team tournament with an impressive 7-3 win-loss mark and posted some impressive victories throughout the competition, hosted by Owen Sound, Ont. Particularly strong were the Ontario teams who had three of the four teams – Belmore Sting, Shallow Lake Sting and K-W Twins – still in the running as the tournament wound down, the other being Delisle (SA) Pride.
The Twins finished the preliminary round with an identical record as Colchester at 6-2. The Royals found themselves in a hole early that they couldn’t dig out of. K-W scored three times in the first and added four in the second to build up a 7-0 lead. Their final run came in the sixth and they finished with 10 hits.
Colchester’s runs came in the fourth. Carter McNutt singled but two caught flies to the outfield left the Royals with two out. That brought up Keegan Crowell who homered to centre field, making it 7-2 at the time. Brody Fraser had a triple, and Callum Bouma and Alec MacDonald added singles to round out the Royals’ five-hit total.
Royals 7 Rangers 2
Earlier Saturday, Colchester, who finished fifth after eight preliminary games, advanced with a 7-2 win over Shellbrook (SA) Rangers who were eighth.
Carson Lanceleve was 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, while Nathan Peters tripled, and Crowell, Cameron Patton, MacDonald and Fraser all chipped in with singles. The Royals scored three times in the fifth to put the game away.
Patton went five innings for the win, giving up five hits and one walk, while striking out five. Colchester played an errorless game.
Tournament Stats
Keehan Crowell led the Royals at the plate in the tournament overall. In 10 games he had a batting average of .355, with 11 hits in 31 at-bats, which included three triples and the only home run the team posted. He also had six RBIs to lead the Royals.
Alec MacDonald posted a .353 average, belting six hits in 17 at-bats, with two RBI over nine games.
Rowan Sears went 7-for-25 in 10 games for a .280 average. He had two triples and led the team in both runs scored with eight, and walks taken, with seven.
Overall, the team’s batting average was .230 with an on-base percentage of .299.
Pitching
On the mound, Cameron Patton was winning pitcher in three games, working 17 innings. He never took a loss and put up a .247 earned-run average.
David Watson had a 2-3 record and pitched 26 and a third innings, recording a 3.19 ERA.
SCORES
Overall (7-3 record)
Preliminary Round (6-2 record)
Royals 6 Shellbrook (SA) Rangers 0
Royals 6 Quebec 5
Royals 2 Napanee (ON) 1
Royals 5 NL Selects 2
Belmore 8 Royals 2
Royals 7 Saskatoon (SA) Selects 0
Shallow Lake (ON) 1 Royals 0
Royals 3 B.C. Marlins 2
Elimination Round (1-1 record)
Royals 7 Shellbrook (SA) Rangers 2
K-W (ON) Twins 8 Royals 2
