Hometown Sports Weekend Recap — Friday July 17 to Sunday July 19 — Bears Walk Off Mitchell Astros
Powered by Walker Mortgages— your hometown mortgage coach.
Henning Park hosted a walk-off finish Saturday as the Caledonia Bears T1 18U beat Mitchell Astros 18U 8-7 to punctuate a busy weekend across Norfolk and Haldimand. Friday stayed quiet, but Saturday and Sunday brought a full slate: the Haldimand Heat 09 U17/16U swept a Saturday tournament, the U11 Haldimand Bulls spun a combined no-hitter, and the Simcoe SR Giants rallied from five down to beat the Red Sox. Here's the weekend that was.
Game of the Weekend: Caledonia Bears T1 18U vs Mitchell Astros 18U
Saturday afternoon at Henning Park, the Caledonia Bears T1 18U put together one of the summer's best finishes. Mitchell Astros 18U built a lead that looked safe into the late innings, but Caledonia kept chipping away, and by the time the Bears came to the plate for their final at-bat, the game was tied.
Dawson Demers had already done his job on the mound, working his way to the win. At the plate it was a full team effort. Josh Almas, Infusini and Jake Almas all picked up multiple hits, the kind of lineup-wide contact that turns a close game into a winnable one. When the Bears finally broke through, they did it on their own terms, walking it off in front of the home crowd.
It's the kind of result that sticks with a Tier 1 club all summer, a game decided in the final inning instead of the first. Caledonia doesn't get style points for the walk-off, just the win, and on a weekend with baseball and fastball all over Norfolk and Haldimand, that's the one everybody will be talking about Monday morning.
Final: Caledonia Bears T1 18U 8, Mitchell Astros 18U 7.
All Scores Below Ad
Around the Diamond
Saturday
Simcoe Giants 10U split a doubleheader with the Nationals 10U, tying the opener 5-5 before erupting in the nightcap. Taylor G and Ben B both had multi-hit games early, and James C took over game two with two home runs and 4 RBI to power a 13-7 win.
Haldimand Heat 09 U17/16U went a perfect 3-0 on the day. They held off Whitby Eagles 9-4 behind Sophia Harwood's 4-for-4 afternoon, blanked Cambridge Coyotes 4-1 on Ella Courneyea's 7 strikeouts, then closed it out 8-1 over Oshawa Lady B's with Aurora Bancroft in the circle.
Simcoe Giants 14U got into a slugfest with Hamilton Cardinals 14U T1 and came up just short, 21-16. Black went 3-for-3 in the loss and the Giants never stopped swinging.
U13 Haldimand Bulls dropped a doubleheader to the Elma Avengers, falling 12-4 and 19-11. Kolten B had a big second game at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double and a triple.
U15 Haldimand Bulls ran into a hot Elmira Heat club and lost 10-1. Carter Reavie was too much on the mound for Elmira, striking out eight.
Sunday
Haldimand Heat 09 U17/16U split their Sunday, beating Guelph Gators 5-2 as Phoebe Stephens ripped two triples, then falling 3-2 to Waterloo Ghosts despite out-hitting them 7-6. Civiero and Gibson each had two hits in the loss.
Simcoe Giants T2 12U outlasted a back-and-forth game that was tied 9-9 into the 6th, winning 11-9. Elliott B drove in 3 runs on a 3-for-4 day.
Simcoe Giants 14Ur an into a buzzsaw in Ancaster, falling 17-2. Connor Smart and Henry Whalen each drove in four for the Angels.
Simcoe Giants 15U battled Cambridge Cubs 15U T1, but a 5-run 3rd proved too much in an 8-2 loss. J Fischer went 2-for-3 for the Giants.
Simcoe SR Giants trailed by five before storming back with an 8-run 5th inning to beat the Red Sox 14-7. Greg Zelem drove in three on a 2-for-4 day.
U11 Haldimand Bullsspun a combined no-hitter in a 15-0 win over Elmira Heat 11U, with Brody S striking out six over three hitless innings and Owen C and Camden V each going deep. They couldn't keep the momentum in game two, falling 12-9 to the Tara 11U Twins despite Emmett B's 3-for-3, 5-RBI day.
