The Simcoe Giants 16U Dropped 16 On Kitchener. Coach Shortt Says The Real Story Was On The Bench.
HOMETOWN SPORTS NETWORK // GAME OF THE WEEK
The Simcoe Giants 16U Dropped 16 On Kitchener. Their Coach Says The Real Story Was On The Bench.
A 16-1 statement win, an RBI barrage that started in the first inning and never really slowed down, and a coach who reminded us what a 16U dugout is supposed to sound like.
By Hometown Sports Network // Simcoe, Ontario
There's a version of 16U baseball that everybody's seen at one point or another.
It's the game where the score is tight in the first inning, one team makes an error in the third, a kid strikes out looking with runners on, another kid says something under his breath from the bench, and by the fifth inning nobody in the dugout is talking to anybody.
That's the version of 16U baseball that Coach Jeff Shortt of the Simcoe Giants doesn't run.
And you could see it on Thursday night in Simcoe when the Giants hosted the Kitchener Panthers.
The Giants scored five runs in the first inning. Six in the second. Three in the third. Two in the fourth. Sixteen runs total. They allowed just one Kitchener run all night.
Final score: Simcoe Giants 16, Kitchener Panthers 1.
But if you ask the man who runs that dugout, the sixteen runs weren't the story.
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The Giants didn't wait around.
Bottom of the first, two runners on base, Kellen Cameron drew a walk to bring in the game's first run. Then Hunter Smith drew a walk. Then Liam Shortt hit a ground out that scored one more run and moved runners over.
Then TJ Campbell-Poirier walked into the box.
TJ singled to center on a ground ball that just kept rolling, scoring Kellen. On the throw, TJ advanced to second. A couple pitches later, Jacob Hazen singled to right to score Hunter.
Carter Leach followed with the biggest swing of the inning. A ground-ball triple to left that brought both TJ and Jacob home.
James Hamilton finished the inning off with a single to center that scored Carter Leach.
Five runs in the first inning. Six batters recording hits. And the Giants dugout was up on the rail from the second at-bat.
The bottom of the second was worse for Kitchener.
Nolan Schimus walked. Kellen Cameron walked. Hunter Smith doubled to center to bring one more run home. Liam Shortt grounded out productively to score another. TJ Campbell-Poirier reached on an error that brought Hunter home. Then Kitchener's defense misplayed a ball, and another run scored. Then another. Then another.
Six more runs in the inning. 11-0 Giants.
By the time the third inning came around, the Giants were in a rhythm you can't manufacture. Hunter Smith doubled again. Liam Shortt walked. Jayden Ling walked. Jacob Hazen got hit by a pitch that scored Hunter. Carter Leach reached on an error that scored another. Colton Kelly got hit by a pitch that scored a third.
Three more runs. 14-0 Giants.
Kitchener finally got on the board in the top of the fourth. Desmond Rolt doubled to right. Two batters later, Braydon Monachan bunted and reached on an error at first that scored Rolt. That was the only run the Panthers would score all night.
The Giants added two more in the bottom of the fourth. Jacob Hazen singled to left to score Hunter. Carter Leach singled to center to score Liam Shortt. That put the final at 16-1.
Sixteen runs. Ten hits. And a whole lineup that took the field like they meant it.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH KC PRODUCTIONS
After the game we caught up with Coach Jeff Shortt of the Simcoe Giants 16U.
We asked him what his team did well.
He didn't lead with the sixteen runs.
COACH JEFF SHORTT, SIMCOE GIANTS 16U
"I think that we did a good job of staying up today. We had a lot of guys cheering each other on. It's tough at this age group. Sometimes they can get down on each other, or especially themselves. And I thought we did a pretty good job today of staying up rather than getting down on ourselves. It helped with the score, obviously, today."
That's a coach who's been at 16U a while.
He knows exactly what he's watching for. Because at that age, it's not the hits that decide whether a team wins games consistently. It's what the bench sounds like when things aren't going well.
On Thursday night, things went well from the first pitch. But the reason things went well, according to Coach Shortt, is because the Giants have already built the habits they'd need if it hadn't.
That's the difference between a team that wins a night and a team that wins a season.
When we asked him about a player who makes a big impact but doesn't get enough credit, he didn't hesitate.
TJ CAMPBELL-POIRIER, SIMCOE GIANTS 16U
"I'd say TJ Campbell-Poirier. He's our shortstop. He's one of our silent leaders. Sometimes he can be vocal, but a lot of times he just leads by example with his bat and definitely with his defense."
And look at the box score.
TJ Campbell-Poirier had an RBI single in the first inning. He also stepped onto the mound in the third and threw for the Giants. Shortstop, pitcher, quiet leader, day in and day out.
His coach saw it. His teammates see it. Now Hometown Sports Network sees it too.
TJ, you were seen tonight.
But the answer that hit hardest came when we asked Coach Shortt about a volunteer who does the behind-the-scenes work for the team.
"She's our GameChanger person. She's always supporting me and the team. Without GameChanger, it's a really important tool to look at your stats and who's pitching well, who's getting hits, who we should put in what spot in the order, things like that. She's really good at it. She's been doing it for a lot of years. It's a valuable piece for me as a coach."
The GameChanger person.
If you're a competitive baseball parent reading this, you know exactly what he means. Every rep team in Southern Ontario has one. The parent who logs every at-bat. Tracks every pitch. Keeps the stats that the coach uses to build the lineup. Every year. Every game. Every inning.
It's the second time this month we've had a Game of the Week where a coach used their post-game interview to name their GameChanger volunteer as the unsung backbone of the team. First it was Adrien Turner with the Simcoe Giants 11U. Now it's Coach Shortt's GameChanger person with the 16U.
That's not a coincidence. That's an industry-wide truth.
The coaches see it. The parents see it. The kids don't always see it, but they should.
Coach Shortt didn't name her on the microphone, so we won't guess in print. But if you're a Simcoe Giants 16U family reading this and you know who runs the GameChanger for that team, drop her name in the comments so the community can thank her by name.
She's been doing it for years. She deserves the shoutout.
Here's what this game was really about.
Yes, the Simcoe Giants 16U dropped 16 runs on Kitchener. Yes, Carter Leach had a triple. Yes, Hunter Smith doubled twice. Yes, TJ Campbell-Poirier played shortstop, pitched relief, and drove in a run.
But if you ask the man who runs that dugout, the story isn't the runs. It's the reason the runs happened.
The Giants have built the kind of dugout where kids pick each other up. Where a strike-out doesn't turn into a bad body-language moment. Where the shortstop leads by example. Where the GameChanger parent has been quietly running the operation for years.
That's what a 16U team looks like when it's built the right way.
The Giants 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.
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.
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
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