The Haldimand Heat U11 Are Rolling.
Coming off a Platinum Division championship at the UTM Teddy Bear Tournament, the Heat hosted Guelph in Jarvis and didn't let up. Final score: 13-1. The bats are loud, the dugout is loud, and Selena was locked in.
By Hometown Sports Network // Jarvis, Ontario
There's a way you can tell when a team is rolling.
It's not the scoreboard. It's the dugout.
When a team is rolling, the cheers come from the bench faster than the at-bats. The high fives come before the runner gets back to the dugout. Every kid on the team is paying attention, every kid is on her feet, every kid is part of every play.
That's what was happening in Jarvis on Saturday afternoon when the Haldimand Heat U11 hosted the Guelph Gators U11.
The Heat came into the game riding a hot streak. They had just gone 5-0 at the UTM Teddy Bear Tournament. Outscored their opponents 44-17. Came back from 8-3 down in one of those games and still walked away with a Platinum Division championship.
A team that hot has a choice when they walk back onto their home diamond the next weekend. They can take it easy. Coast a little. Let the energy come down.
The Heat U11 didn't.
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Every parent in those bleachers knows what it cost to get a kid here.
The Heat U11 just came off a 5-0 weekend at UTM. That's hotel rooms. That's gas money. That's tournament fees. That's the bat that costs more than a week of groceries, and the cleats your kid will grow out of in eight months.
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The Heat got on the board first.
Bottom of the first inning, runner in scoring position, Jordan stepped into the box and popped a ball into play that scored the run. 1-0 Heat.
A pop fly RBI. That's how you start a hot day.
The Gators answered in the top of the second. A Guelph runner reached on a pop fly in the infield, advanced to third on a fielding miscommunication, and Taylor punched a single over third base that brought her in. 1-1.
A back-and-forth game for one inning.
Then the Heat took over.
In the bottom of the second, Johnson grounded a ball back to the Gators' pitcher and beat out the throw for a single. The Guelph catcher missed a passed ball that moved both Heat runners into scoring position. Two batters later, JD dropped a ball into the outfield for a single that scored both Aubrey and Josh.
3-1 Heat.
The dugout was alive now. The Gators dugout was getting quieter.(story continues below ad)
The bottom of the third was when the Heat U11 decided to put this game away.
Patience reached on a ground ball single to second. Selena, the Heat starter who was about to have a day at the plate AND on the mound, ripped a ball through the Guelph infield that brought Patience home. 4-1.
Selena advanced on a misplayed throw, and a few pitches later Emerson singled to center to score her. 5-1.
Aubrey followed with a fly ball to left that was deep enough to bring Emma home from third. 6-1.
Mila singled to center to score Sylvia. 7-1.
Peter singled to score Mila. 8-1.
Six runs in one inning. Six different Heat players named in the scoring. That's not one kid catching fire. That's a whole lineup that's locked in.
And speaking of locked in.
In the top of the fifth inning, Selena walked back out to the mound and struck out the side. Three batters, three strikeouts, three at-bats over before the Guelph dugout could settle in. The kind of inning where a pitcher tells you exactly how the game is going to end.
The Heat tacked on five more in the bottom of the fifth to put it away. Sylvia drew a bases-loaded walk to score Cameron. Jade hit a ground ball that the Gators couldn't clean up, and two runs came in. Carly singled in the final run.
Final: Haldimand Heat 13, Guelph Gators 1.
POST GAME WITH SELENA AND JORDAN
When we caught up with Sylena and Jordan after the game and asked them about their favourite teammates to play with, they both gave the same answer.
"I can't answer that. I love all my teammates and enjoy playing with them all. So I'd pick all of them, because they're all really nice."
"Same with Sylena, because all of the teammates are really good, and they're like really good at baseball, and they're all of my friends."
That right there, that's the dugout you saw all afternoon.
Sylena also told us something that stopped us in our tracks. We asked who taught her to play, and what's something they taught her that's going to stick with her.
"My dad. Ever since I was little, my dad started practicing with me to make me turn into a softball player like him. He played on Team Canada. So ever since, he just taught me. And I would always remember when he made me work my best and made me restart if I did something not right."
Eleven years old. Her dad played for Team Canada. And what she remembers, more than any of the wins, is being made to restart when she didn't do something right.
That's the kind of household that raises a Game of the Week kid.
Jordan had her own story. She told us she's been playing since she was three years old, learning from her mom, her dad, and her brother in indoor baseball.
"I've loved baseball ever since."
Two kids. Two families. Two completely different paths to the same diamond in Jarvis.
We also caught up with the Heat U11 coach, Troy, after the game. We asked him a few questions and got back the kind of answers that tell you exactly why this team is rolling.
When we asked who on the team doesn't get enough credit, his answer came fast.
"Emma Kraay. She does a lot of unseen little things. She's really supportive with her teammates when she's playing shortstop. She's always calling out where the play's going. I think she's a real leader out on the field."
That's the kid every championship team has. The one who isn't necessarily on the scoresheet, but is the reason her teammates know where to be on every play.
When we asked what won't show up on the scoreboard from this game, Troy didn't talk about a hit or a play. He talked about the bench.
"The girls supporting each other in the dugout. I thought they did a really tremendous job of that. They're all really good friends, which makes it really easy to coach them."
But the answer that mattered most came when we asked him about a volunteer behind the scenes who doesn't get enough credit.
He didn't hesitate.
JOE FENEY
"He takes care of all the facilities here in Jarvis. Even today, when I needed a last minute umpire, he was the person I called and he did bases today. It's not just the Haldimand Heat that he helps. It's Jarvis Minor Ball, and ball in Haldimand County wouldn't be the same without Joe."
That's the kind of guy who makes everything you just read possible.
The diamond the kids played on. The umpires who showed up. The bases that were ready. The dugouts that were swept out. None of that happens without a Joe Feny, and every small town in Haldimand and Norfolk has one.
Most of them never get a thank you in front of a microphone.
This one did. From Hometown Sports Network, on behalf of every kid who's ever played a game on a Jarvis diamond, thanks for what you do, Joe.
Here's what made this game matter.
The Heat U11 didn't just win a regular-season game 13-1 over Guelph. They proved that the UTM Teddy Bear championship wasn't a fluke. They came home, put on their home jerseys in Jarvis, and rolled.
Sylena pitched a gem and added hits at the plate. Jordan got the first RBI of the day. JD drove in two in the second. Six different Heat kids scored runs in the third inning alone. Emma Craig anchored the defense the way she always does. The dugout was loud from the first pitch to the last out.
And Joe Feney made sure all of it could happen.
That's a hometown story.
The Heat U11 are back in action soon. We'll be there. Mic in hand.
Got a kid playing? A coach making a difference? A volunteer holding it all together? Reach out at hometownsportsnetwork.ca. We want to hear about it.
HOMETOWN SPORTS NETWORK
Telling the stories of the athletes, coaches, and volunteers that make Southern Ontario sports what it is. Every mortgage closed by Walker Mortgages funds youth sports in our community. Goal: $100,000 donated by 2030.
donated by 2030.
