At the U11A Provincial Baseball Championships, held in Niverville’s Hespeler Park from July 5–7, the home team came out on top. The Niverville Wildcats won an exciting 10–8 final against the Kleefeld Stingers on Sunday afternoon.
This is the second time in three years that Niverville has won the U11A Provincials.
The Wildcats entered the 12-team field on Friday morning with a nervous first game against the Carberry Royals. The Royals claimed victory in the close 5–3 match, which ended up being Niverville’s only loss of the tournament.
“On Friday afternoon, the team resumed play against the Portage Phillies,” says coach Clayton Smeltz. “The bats started to come alive and the runs came early and often as the Wildcats started to find their stride.”
That game was ended after four innings with a score of 14–4, an example of the mercy rule in action.
On Saturday, the Wildcats faced Dauphin in a must-win game. Both teams had strong fan support, according to Smeltz, and it began as a close back-and-forth game. Niverville pulled away in the later innings, securing a 14–6 win and advancing to the playoffs.
Niverville’s first playoff tilt was against the Brandon Cardinals.
“After the dust settled, Niverville won 14–6, setting up a semi-final matchup against Carberry,” says Smeltz. “Behind great pitching from Seth Hooper, solid defence, and timely hitting, the rematch decisively went to Niverville in a 14–0 score, again in a mercy-rule-shortened four-inning game.”
Kleefeld won the other semi-final, setting up an exciting provincial final between Kleefeld and Niverville, communities just 25 kilometres apart.
“The coin flip went to Niverville and the game began fast and furious with Kleefeld putting up three runs in the top of the first inning,” Smeltz says. “Niverville responded with a three-run homerun by Jeremiah Martens in the bottom half of the inning. The fans that filled both sidelines were in for a great game!”
Gradually, Niverville pulled ahead, building an 8–4 lead after four innings. In the bottom of the fifth, Seth Hooper hit a two-run homer to extend the lead to 10–4.
Smeltz points out, though, that no lead is safe in U11 baseball.
“Kleefeld fought back in the top of the sixth and final inning, putting up four runs to bring the score to 10–8,” he says.
When the final out was recorded, the potentially game-tying runners were stuck on second and third base.
“If you were outdoors at exactly 4:01 p.m. on Sunday and were wondering what all the cheering was about, now you know!” Smeltz says. “Shoutout to Ben Hiebert and Ryan Smeltz, as they combined for a gutsy pitching performance in the final for the Wildcats.”
A Successful Weekend
Aside from Niverville’s strong performance, the weekend was hailed a success by the organizers.
“We estimate there were over 600 people attending the event on the weekend,” says Rod Wolfe of the Wildcats organization. “The diamonds held up very well.”
Wolfe pointed to the excellent condition of Hespeler Park going into the tournament, including a large number of mature, shady trees and the recently expanded parking lot on the south side of the park to accommodate visitors from around the province.
“We heard several positive comments from coaches and spectators about the diamonds and Hespeler Park in general,” Wolfe adds. “The town’s operations staff did a great job in maintaining the diamonds and park prior to and during the tournament. Their help was a key part of the success of the event.”
Wolfe also extended thanks to the network of volunteers who chipped in, many of whom hadn’t officially signed up for volunteer duty. He says that this kind of event couldn’t have succeeded without Niverville’s dedicated baseball families.
“Thank you to our sponsors for their financial support, which helped us to offset the costs of the tournament,” he says. “Sponsors were Von Ast Construction, The Great Canadian Dollar Store, Niverville Family Chiropractic, BSI Insurance, and Niverville Credit Union. Last but not least is a thank you to Niverville Physiotherapy for providing medical services for the tournament. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries, but they did attend to some sore shoulders, tweaked ankles, etc.”
