2008 16U Ottawa Knights Season Summary

Knights U16 End Dream Season 2008

The Ottawa Knights began their indoor training camp in January. Several months later, in mid-April, the Knights U16, 2008 team was raring to go, leaner than a year earlier and deep in talent. Coaches, players and parents, familiar with the talented players chosen, had a feeling that this was a formidable team, possibly destined for a dream season. Were they ever right!

The Knights corps of starting pitchers ( 4.22 ERA) was second to none, supported by a group of equally phenomenal infielders and outfielders (.949 fielding) and hitters (.353 average) that deservedly could be dubbed the" Big Blue Machine".

The Knights finished their season with 39 victories and 19 losses, for a winning percentage approaching .700. In their final 40 games their record was 33 wins, 7 losses.

The Knights had outstanding tournament success winning three in the USA (Penn State, Watertown and Long Island) and two locally (ONC and Knights Tournies). In their last three tournaments, incredibly, 8 of their wins involved the mercy rule.

Coaches, Adam Salter, Rick Frobel, Klaus Hoppner, Dan Herback and John Crabb are to be congratulated, they are proud of every player and the team's tremendous achievements.

The team celebrated their season with an end of year party in late August.

Ottawa Knights 16U Tournament Summaries

U16 Knights in "Baseball Heaven" with 5th tournament win
August 15-17, 2008

Ottawa Knights 16U walk away with 5th Tournament win of the season !!

The Ottawa Knights U16 elite baseball team finished their dream season winning the East Coast Nationals 16U tournament at Baseball Heaven Park in Long Island, New York over the weekend. Coaches Frobel, Hoppner, Crabb and Herback had the players in the "zone" once again. Knights starting pitchers, Charlie Crabb, Casey Floyd, Cory Herback and Scott McRae went undefeated giving up just seven runs in five games. Homeruns by Evan Hammond, Wes Hoppner, Ryan Meek and Steve Renaud helped power the Knights offence who tallied an incredible fifty runs over the tournament. The victory was the Knights fifth tournament win to cap a dream season that fittingly ended at Baseball Heaven Park. A season for the record books, wow!

Ottawa Knights U16 Win in Watertown !!!
August 9-10, 2008

The Ottawa Knights U16 elite baseball team rolled over the Oneonta Bulldogs 12-0 to win the New York Umpires Association U19 Baseball Tournament in Watertown, New York this past weekend. Jordan Kritsch was almost perfect in the championship game pitching a one hit shutout. The Knights solid pitching, defensive play, and awesome hitting once again carried them throughout the tournament. This was the Knights fourth tournament victory this summer.

Gord Hamilton/Fred Wigney Memorial Tournament (Nepean) - July 18-20, 2008

Ottawa Knights 16U walk away with 3rd Tournament win of the season !!

Combine 'Lights out' pitching with 'Solid Defence' and 'Power Hitting' and you come away with continued triumphs. That's been the recipe for success for the Ottawa Knights 16U Baseball team over the past couple of months. The Ottawa Knights U16 elite baseball team walked away with their third tournament championship of the summer by winning the prestigious Gord Hamilton/Fred Wigney Memorial Tournament this past weekend at Hamilton Yards.

In the zone all weekend they outscored their opponents by a total of 31 runs to 6, defeating the visiting Champlain Edge team from Vermont by a score of 13-4 in the championship game.

The Knights previous two tournament victories came in State College, Pennsylvania and in Kanata at their own host tournament.

The Knights next tournament is in one week where they will need all cylinders firing as they will be battling to win the the National Invitational Tournament in Chicago, USA. Outstanding pitching, solid hitting and strong defence has the Knights currently on a 12 game winning streak.

Knights U16 Lose Semi-Final Heartbreaker 1-0

Moscow Devilcats Woodbat Classic, July 4-6, 2008

Winning any tournament requires great hitting, pitching, defence and some help from the baseball gods. Unfortunately, the baseball gods were not with the Knights this past weekend when it counted most.

In the opening game of the tournament the Knights went ahead of Scranton in the top of the 8th inning 8-7 only to lose 9-8 in the bottom of the inning. In the next two games the Knights mercied their opponents 10-0 (Moscow Devilcats) and 12-2 (Canandaiga) to qualify for the semi-final. Similar to Friday's game, the baseball gods were not with the Knights as they were held scoreless leaving a total of 10 players on base over seven innings, losing a heartbreaker 1-0 to the Oneanta Bulldogs.

The undisputed MVP for the Knights during the tournament was "K"asey Floyd. "K"asey pitched a one hit shutout for the victory in his first outing and gave up only 1 run over 7 innings in the Knights semi-final 1-0 loss. Honourable mention goes to Knights Ryan Morissette who was outstanding defensively in left field and batted .500 (5/10) over the tournament. Despite the heartbreaking loss in the semi-final fun was had by all and the the Knights are hoping that the baseball gods will rejoin them in games and tournaments to come.

National Capital Baseball Elite Tournament - 16U Champions - Ottawa Knights

The coaches had the host U16 Ottawa Knights team firing on all cylinders as they went undefeated to win the Ottawa Knights U16 tournament on Sunday, July 13 at Lower Kinsmen Park in Kanata. It was the Knights second tournament championship in three weeks. The games were all close but the Knights managed to eke out victories in each thanks to outstanding pitching, and good hitting and defence. In game one the Knights held on to defeat the "never say die" Champlain Edge 8-7. In game 2, Scott McRae pitched a complete game leading the Knights to a 4-3 victory over the Indian River team from northern New York. In game 3 Cory Herback was solid, pitching a complete game 3-0 shutout victory over the Montreal Titans. In the final game for the tournament championship, the tough Champlain Edge from Vermont were matched against the Knights. Under miserable weather and field conditions Charlie Crabb was outstanding, pitching the entire game, fanning 6 batters on way to a 5-2 win for the tournament championship and was named MVP for the tournament.

• Summary

Ottawa Knights U16 Champions!

MID-ATLANTIC CLASSIC TOURNAMENT, BELLAFONTE/STATE COLLEGE PENSYLVANIA June 27-29, 2008

Everyone knew from the start of the season that the 2008 Ottawa Knights U16 baseball club was good. The Knights have battled hard and challenged teams in regular season and at tournaments since opening day. Their hard work and perseverance finally paid off with the Knights winning the prestigious Mid- Atlantic, Bellafonte/State College, Pennsylvania tournament on June 29th.

The Knights offence, defence and pitching was on track from the first game of this tournament until the final championship game. With a record of 3 wins and 1 defeat the Knights met the highly favoured Albermarle Post 74, the 2007 Virginia State champions and undefeated in 30 games. It was a hard fought game but the Knights prevailed with an 8-6 win to be crowned tournament champions. The entire Knights team, coaches, players, and fans, contributed to the victory. Continuing his hot bat and solid defence Mike Byrne was outstanding throughout and deservedly was named tournament MVP.