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The host Napanee Express flipped the script and were able to exact some revenge at the 2023 U20 Men’s Canadian Fast Pitch Championship.
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The Express, who lost 8-3 to the Tavistock Athletics in the final of the 2022 edition of the championship, also hosted by Napanee, blanked the Athletics 2-0 on Sunday afternoon to snatch the title away in a nail-biting gold medal game.
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It was Napanee’s fifth U18/U19/U20 national crown (1982, 1997, 2005, 2018, 2023) and the third time the club has won as host (1982, 2018, 2023).
The Express, who went 6-1 and finished first in preliminary round-robin play and then won two playoff contests, scored what proved to be the game-winning run in the very first inning of the clash. Tyler Franklin led off with a ground-ball single, Gavin Brooks sacrifice bunted him to second base, Franklin took third on a fly ball out and then scored on a wild pitch.
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Nicholas McGrayne’s solo home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning added an insurance run.
Connor Brooks gained the pitching win in a bit of an unusual outing. He allowed just one hit — a single to Brayden VanDeWynckel with one out in the sixth inning — but walked seven and hit another batter. He was, however, able to wriggle his way out of a handful of jams to keep Tavistock off the scoreboard.
Brooks left the bases loaded in the first and sixth innings, left two runners on base in the second and stranded a single runner in the seventh. He had three-up, three-down innings in the third, fourth and fifth, and he ended four innings with strikeouts as he fanned a total of 11 in the game.
Brooks was the top pitcher in the tournament, going 5-0 with a save in six appearances (four starts). He gave up just seven hits and two runs (one earned, for an ERA of 0.23) while walking 22 and striking out 66 in 30.1 innings pitched. Brad Barker went 2-0 with a 1.79 ERA while fanning 22 in 15.2 innings pitched.
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Offensively, Brooks was also one of the most dangerous batters, hitting .419 (13-for-31, including three home runs). Regulars also hitting .400 or higher were Tyler Branchaud (.500), Barker (.444) and Franklin (.400).
Napanee gained its berth in the final by downing the Haldimand Heat, 5-1, in Saturday’s double-life playoff game between the top two preliminary round finishers as Brooks fanned 18 in a four-hitter. That defeat, followed by a 6-4 loss to Tavistock on Sunday morning, left Haldimand in third place, giving the Heat a second consecutive bronze medal finish.
Napanee navigated through preliminary action in first place by beating Haldimand 7-0 and Newfoundland Labrador 8-1 on Tuesday, and the Rosebud Jr. Royals of Saskatchewan 11-5 and Tavistock 7-3 on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Express dropped a 5-4 decision to the Rostock Braves before rebounding to trounce the Saskatoon Selects 18-0, and they then topped Quebec 4-3 on Friday.
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Napanee Express take U20 national fast pitch championship - The Kingston Whig-Standard
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