Well as my first year I had some ups and downs myself and had some ups and downs with the teams. I would like to thank everyone for their cooperation and support over the year. A special thanks goes out to Carlo for taking care of the website as this not an easy task. Getting all of those games in takes a lot of time. Thanks Carlo!

We will start with the A tournament

Thanks to Chuck from Grandview for taking on the convener role of the tournament.

I am told it was a success and a lot of fun baseball was played.

Here is how the weekend went down;

It was another great weekend for the "A" division year end tournament. Going into the tournament there was a lot of last minute jockeying on the last Monday of ball to see where teams were seeded. 10 teams vying for 1 Championship trophy to take home and proudly collect dust, sorry, proudly display for their church! What would be the final outcome?

Well Peter Hallman ballyard was sure trying it's best to give the fans a show. Friday night the balls were a flying. Maybe the cool air or maybe guys just ready to play but there was more than a couple homeruns to watch over the span of the weekend. The round-robin saw some close games with the tiebreaker rule almost being used to its fullest extent near the end but eventually the playoffs were set. The Batsmen (reigning Champs) and the Cubs were the pool leaders receiving a bye into the semis. The Royals, hoping to redeem a loss in the finals last year, would play the Expos in one quarterfinal while the Raiders would play the Twins in the other quarterfinal. The Expos almost narrowly squeezed into the semis with an upset of the Royals but Koinonia was able to bear down and come away with the win. The Twins and Raiders game also came down to the wire where the game was tied going into the 9th. A towering solo shot in the top of the inning gave the twins the lead but the Raiders didn't give up. With 1 out and the go ahead run on 3rd, the all inspiring sac fly would be the difference in this game as the Raiders headed to the Semis for the first time in their storied franchise.

This would be the first time in a long time that the top four seeds would be in the semis. The Royals went on to play the Batsmen while the Raiders faced the Cubs. The well rested Cubs came out and defeated the Raiders in 9 innings while in the other semi we were looking at last years final. After some great offense and defense, with a more than a few close calls, the Royals were able to overcome last years defeat and send the reigning Champs home a little bit earlier than they would have liked. The Royals looked like a team determined to leave the 2nd place trophy behind and have their picture taken with the 1st place trophy. They took an early lead out of the gate and never looked back defeating the Cubs 18-9. A great game for both teams and a great end to the 2011 season. Congratulations to the Royals, this years Champions and to all the other teams, players and fans that were able to attend the year-end tournament. Here's lookin' at next year and a whole new season of ball! Have a great off-season everyone!

The B division tournament kicked off the weekend before.

A special thanks goes to Dean from Creekside for taking over his team and then still helping me out and taking over as the tournament convenor. Thanks Dean!

Here is how the B tournament wrapped up;

Much anticipation surrounded this year’s tournament. Good weather contributed to the success of the round robin which had its’ share of exciting finishes and surprises. The Creekside Cardinals went undefeated in the round robin and went against the surprising First Baptist Crusaders in one semi. The Cards consistent hitting and timely defence proved to be too much for FBC. The other semi pitted the Koinonia Titans against the FCS Hawks. This was a back-and-forth affair as both teams rallied against deficits, with the Titans eventually squeaking out a 1-run win. Unfortunately the weather didn’t fully cooperate to the end as rain and lightning threatened the final. The game was played closely throughout but ultimately the Titans dethroned the two-time defending champion Cardinals with a 9-7 victory.

Finally, onto the C division

I would like to start off by thanking the teams that did help out with the C situation and still played and enjoyed the weekend of ball. I liked how a lot of people rallied and we got through this tough situation. I know as a manager of many sports teams that organizing a team can be very tough and getting everyone together can sometimes be out of your control. I am hoping that other teams can learn from this situation and try to get more players qualified for the tournament then your regular team as there are going to be instances that people cannot make it that day whether it be work or an emergency.

The weekend kicked off with a great start with beautiful whether Friday night. Teams battled and had fun (I hope everyone else did).

Saturday turned out to be another great day and was almost perfect for a tournament of baseball. It was a touch on the warm side however it is hard to complain with the weather being as it was in the past. The season champion Cobras had a great tournament and started it off with a sweep of the round robin. The Gators who finished second in the season also came through second in the round robin. The surprise Hurricanes came through with a great tournament and challenged every team and took third. The Northside Rays proved that hard work truly pays off as the C division watched them grow as a team and build a lot of good young ball players. The Rays played great and took fourth setting up a match with the Cobras in one semi final while the Gators took on the Hurricanes in the other.

The Cobras and Gators great runs continued as they moved past their respective teams into the finals.

The finals saw a great game played as the two teams played each other tough. The Cobras kept building slight leads and then the Gators kept clawing away at it. In the end the Cobras offence proved too much for them and the LMC Cobras took home their second consecutive C division tournament trophy.

Congrats to all teams as I personally (Chris) thought everyone played great. The defences all appeared to play well and guys all appeared to have fun. Have a great offseason everyone!

I will be in discussion with Carlo in regards to bringing together a date for the fall meeting.