U11 girls’ fastpitch tournament a great success in Leamington

The Leamington Whitecaps U11 girls fastpitch team hosted a six-team tournament on the weekend of July 19-21 and the home team had a great showing, reaching the semi-finals.

The locals finished second in their division after round-robin play and then beat Wyoming in a quarter-final game on Saturday afternoon before losing a heartbreaker Sunday 9-7 to Corunna.

LaSalle Gold took the tournament title with a 15-5 win over Corunna.

Highlights of the weekend for the Whitecaps included the six home-runs hit by Larissa Bento — one of them a towering 200-foot blast over the fence on diamond 1 on Saturday afternoon.

Eva McKeen and Gia Graziano shared most of the pitching chores and pitched well through the whole weekend. Bolokia Raffoul and Milanna George each produced some big hits. Ella Epplet hit a homerun in the quarter-final game, while Emma Robinson and Ella George had great defensive tournaments, as well as working some deep counts at the plate. 

Mila Epplett was rock solid in centrefield using a glove passed down from her Opa to her mom and now to her. Sophia Scratch delivered some timely hits and Mila Antonios was her usually steady self at first base and at the plate.

All-in-all, coach Mark Epplett felt it was a great experience for the team and plenty of local fans who made it out to cheer on their hometown Whitecaps.