Mike Ficker
Newmarket Hawks’ Josh Ficker (left) and a Whitby baserunner look to the umpire for a call during a 13-3 Newmarket victory at the Baseball Ontario tournament.
Sports
September 04, 2008 08:54 PM
By: John Cudmore
The Newmarket Restored Sports/Reebok Hawks certainly saved its best performance for the appropriate time.
After a season hovering around the .500 mark, the Hawks put all the pieces of their puzzle together to reel off five wins in six games and capture the Baseball Ontario mosquito double-A title.
The Hawks capped the run with a 13-6 victory over the Markham Mariners in an all-York Simcoe Baseball Association final of the 11-team, double-knockout tournament at Tudor Park in Vaughan.
“We saved it for the right time, no doubt about that,” said Hawks head coach Mark Nerland, whose team posted a 9-9-2 record in regular season play.
“They weren't playing well as a team going in ... it was infectious. They just turned it around. It was like it was infectious the other way. They played great defence so that really helped. It was kind of surreal.”
In the title game, Jesse Nerland smacked a three-run home run to key a five-run third-inning outburst as Newmarket erased a 4-1 deficit. The Hawks put the game away with five runs in the top of the seventh inning as Sam Harding provided the key blow with a two-run single.
After opening with a 13-3 rout of the Whitby Chiefs, Newmarket rebounded from a 10-8 loss to the Barrie Red Sox for four straight wins, including a semifinal victory over Toronto Playgrounds.
The Hawks also swatted aside the Oakville A's (16-6) and Mississauga Majors (18-6).
Meanwhile, Newmarket teams at the rookie and minor peewee levels advanced to the finals of their respective provincial final tournaments before settling for silver medals.