by Sylene Argent
When the baseball season kicked-off earlier this summer, there were so many registrations for girls under the age of 15, two teams were created.
After a summer of hard work and dedication, the two teams competed in a tournament this weekend, and both made it to the championship finals.
On Sunday morning in Leamington, the Essex Red team faced Essex Green for the U15 girls’ title.
“Honestly, the girls were hitting so well and playing so well. The growth we saw this year was amazing. Both teams were just amazing,” Tracy Armstrong said, a mother of one of the players. “Some kids were hitting it to the fence.”
In the final matchup, Essex Luciers Sandblasting (the Green Team) won 16-9 against Essex Colenutt Signs (the Red Team).
Green Team Coach, Will Quesnel, helped instruct the girls with his sister, Dora, and Coach Wendy, a mother of one of the players on the team.
Quesnel noted that, in the nail-biting championship game, both Essex teams traded runs back and forth at the start and were tied 4-4 after the second inning. After the top of the fifth inning, the score was 9-4 for the Essex Green Team.
The bottom of the fifth inning started off with a leadoff home run and that woke up the Essex Green Team and their bats. “We erupted for a max of seven runs in the inning, without recording a single out,” he recalled.
“We held Essex [Red Team] scoreless for the remainder of the game. Essex’s [Green Team] scoring for the game was capped off with a grand slam to right-field in the bottom of the sixth, as they scored 12 runs in the final two innings.
“This was the fourth time we played each other this season, and they were all great games. It was nice to have an all-Essex final. So, congratulations to them on their season success as well,” Quesnel said. “I know all of our early morning practices during the summer helped us out throughout the year and during the tournament especially.”
This season, Quesnel said he wanted to instill the lesson of, “Whatever you do in life, give it your best effort and see what happens” within the players.
“We came together as a team and improved so much. We accomplished all our goals we set out at the beginning of the season. And we couldn’t be any more prouder of the girls,” he commented.
Red Team Coach, Dr. Todd Wilbee, said that, “During this pandemic, it was such a release for the girls to get outside to learn and play the great game of baseball with their friends. The smiles on their faces were priceless.”