St. Marys On a gorgeous Sunday morning on the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame's Rotary Field, six out of nine finalists who earned berths in the next round of the Aquafina Pitch, Hit & Run contest hail from St. Marys. Garrick Byers, Lucas Jeffrey, Hayden Moore, Nate Smith, Jaxon Valcke and Jared Zufelt, all of whom live in the St. Marys community, will be accompanied by Stratford's Brett Denny and Tanner Johnson, as well as North Londoner Jace McKenzie Caspi on May 23rd, again to be held at the Ball Hall, to determine who will advance to the Rogers Centre to compete in the all-Canadian championship.
Jace McKenzie Caspi dominated the 7-8 year-old category, hitting one target out of six in the pitching, smacking a ball 55 feet off of a batting tee, and running the 160 foot sprint in 10.9 seconds, totalling 245 points. The other three age categories were much more hotly contested. Not advancing, but finishing second, was Curtis Eidt with 176 points, and tied for third was Josh Eidt and Dante Audet with 150 points apiece.
Brett Denny Denny hit three targets out of six to win the pitching contest in the 9-10 year-old category, while Moore ripped a 147-footer off of the tee to lead the hitting, and Johnson's 8.85 time was the best in the running. Moore, a former Canadain Champion in this event, edged the other two with a total of 647 points, as Denny finished second with 642 and Johnson third with 621.
In the 11-12 year-old category, Valcke hit three targets and smacked a 136-foot drive to win those two categories, and Smith outran the pack with an 8.69 time. Valcke won the overall title, amassing 718 points, and Smith finished second with 703. Not advancing, but placing third, was Brock Jeffrey, with 526 points.
Zufelt, Jeffrey and Byers all hit four targets to lead the 13-14 year-old category's pitching contest, Zufelt blasted a ball 252 feet off the tee to lead the hitting, and his 8.16 second running time was tops. Zufelt won the category with a total of 1,138 points. Byers, who always performs strongly in this annual event yet does not play organized baseball (skateboarding is his passion), placed second with 1,002 points, and Jeffrey captured third with 923 points.
Congratulations to all participants and best wishes in the regionals to the nine players who will compete on May 23rd.