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.

A Division Tournament Results 

Peter Hallman Ball Yard played host to this year’s A Divsion Playoff Tournament. Teams were divided into two pools of 5 – the top team in each pool got a bye to the semi-finals while teams two and three played across the pools for the other semi-final berth. Emerging to the semi-finals from one of those qualifiers were the Grandview Angels who took on the Pool B winning Koinonia Royals, but the Angels would go down to defeat 13-2. The other semi pitted the defending champion and Pool A leaders, the First Baptist Batsmen, against the Creekside Cubs. It was a tight defensive matchup; in the bottom of the seventh, the Batsmen pulled ahead 7-6 and held onto that score to earn their berth in the finals once more. The championship started with a lead-off inside-the-park home run for the Royals and play went back and forth from there. It took a close play at third with bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win for First Baptist, 10-6.

Congratulations to the Batsmen and to all the A Division teams for another successful year!

Plenty of great ball this weekend in St. Clements! Congratulations to all teams. Lots of close games under some close and daunting skies, but the rain mostly held off and a winner was declared.

After defeating the WOM Lions in their semi-final, the defending champion Creekside Cardinals met up with the Northside Falcons, winners over the Koinonia Summit in the other semi, for the championship game. Creekside was able to take the lead in the early going and defend both the lead and the title, ending it with a double play to clinch the game. Congratulations, Cardinals - 2010 B Division Champions!

C Division Tournament Results 

Well, unlike the Bs last weekend, the A and C Divisions enjoyed spectacularly sunny weather for their playoffs this time out.

The C Division teams met to settle the issue over Friday night and Saturday in Petersburg and Baden. The GBC Tigers, who led during the regular season, went a perfect 5-0 on the round robin and faced their church rivals and parent club, the Grandview Gators, in one semi-final while last year’s runners-up, the LMC Cobras, took on their parent club, the higher-seeded Hurricanes in the other.

It wasn’t to be for the Hurricanes and Gators this year, however, as the Tigers went on to face the Cobras in the championship final. The Cobras took the early lead and stretched it out with a couple of grand slams to a 19-4 margin after 6 innings. The Tigers clawed back and brought the score to 19-14 after eight. Four more runs in the top of the ninth sealed it for the Cobras as they held the Tigers off 23-14 to take the C Division crown in just their second year in the league.

Congratulations to the LMC Cobras and all the teams who played a hard-fought and enjoyable tournament!

Forget snowboard cross and short track speed skating! If it's real chills, thrills and spills you're looking for, the 2010 KWCMSPL season is about to get underway!

We have a few changes this year. The Northside Yankees have elected to leave the league, creating an opening for a third Grandview team, which will play in the C Division. We have also added two new teams to the A - welcome to Elevation in Waterloo and Emmanuel Evangelical Missionary Church in Elmira! Since we have more teams, we have also added the diamond in Elmira's Industrial Park to our list of venues. The B Division will be playing games there.

Part of the added excitement this year is sure to come from our new home run rule. We now have a "+3" rule, which states that no team can have hit more than three home runs more than the opposing team at any point during the game. This should bring some of the runaway games of the past into tighter competition, but if there are two teams loaded with sluggers, the sky's the limit!

The race to the podium begins on May 3. Schedules for all divisions have been posted.

Here's to many record-breaking performances and personal bests in 2010!

B Division Tournament  

Fittingly for the division between the A and C, the B Division got a mix of the weather the others enjoyed at their tournament - some sun, some rain.

The semis came down to first-placed Ray of Hope against the FCS Hawks while the Creekside Cardinals took on the new team, KMB Crimson Tide. The Tide and Cardinals played a close one with the Cardinals emerging victorious, but the real fireworks were in the other semi. Sixth-seeded Fellowship Christian School carried a 10-9 lead into the 7th inning only to fall behind 14-10 before responding with five runs of their own to regain the lead 15-14. In the ninth, Ray of Hope managed to tie it and hold FCS off the scoreboard. Into the tenth inning they went, Ray of Hope with only 9 players. FCS failed to score in the top of the inning but Ray of Hope drove one home in the bottom to take the game 16-15 and advance to the finals against Creekside.

Another close game ensued with the two teams tied at 12 after 6 innings. Then the Cardinals turned up the heat and Ray of Hope was unable to combat the charge. The Cardinals won 24-15.

Congratulations to the Creekside Cardinals! And thank you to all teams for a well-played season.

C Division Tournament

The C Division Tournament got underway this weekend. While the A Division was no doubt hoping for a little more sun last weekend, the Cs would have loved just a couple of innings of that rain!

Things were all sunny for the First Baptist Crusaders, who swept through the round robin and then eliminated Central Air in the semis. They would be facing the LMC Cobras, who came from behind to defeat the Grandview Gators in the other semi-final, 12-11, in the championship game.

The final was played in Petersburg Monday night in gorgeous weather. First Baptist jumped ahead to a 7-2 lead early on, but the Cobras stormed back in the top of the seventh to tie it up. The Crusaders responded with four more runs of their own in the bottom half and then managed to hold off the Cobras for a 14-8 victory. It was an excellent game played in front of a huge and exuberant crowd.

Congratulations, First Baptist, for winning both the A and C division playoffs this year! And congratulations to the LMC Cobras for making it to the finals in their first year of play.

A Division Tournament

Details are still trickling in, but we can safely tell you the results of the A Division Playoff Tournament.

Teams were able to play under clear - or at least dry - skies for Friday night and Saturday morning, but by the quarter finals things starting getting wet. By the semis, a steady rain was falling with only brief breaks for the rest of the day. But that didn't stop the First Baptist Batsmen, who defeated the Breslau Blues, or the Northside Yankees, who eliminated the Creekside Astros to advance to their second straight playoff final.

However, destiny appeared to be on the side of the regular season champions, as the First Baptist Batsmen held the Yankees off by a score of 18-8 to claim the A Division crown.

Congratulations, Batsmen!

And congratulations and thank you to all the teams who participated - a fun and friendly competition was had by all.

We're still waiting for more details, but here are the "unofficial" results of the weekend's playoff tournaments.

In the C Division, the Fellowship Christian School Hawks defeated the New Hope Hurricanes in the final for their first championship.

In the B Division, the newly-joined Koinonia Royals were dramatic winners over Ray of Hope.  Tied after 8 1/2 innings, the Royals' second baseman ended the game with a 2 run walk off home run to give the new guys the championship!

And in the A Division, the second place Trinity Twins emerged victorious over the surging Northside Yankees.

Congratulations to all teams!

It was a beautiful weekend for baseball in the Waterloo Region on August 17 and 18 as the B and C divisions met for their playoff tournaments.  Not so much for the A division on August 24 and 25.  After a cold and windy start on Monday, the tournament continued largely in the rain and occasional thunder storm on the weekend.  After the round robin, First Baptist Batsmen led the pack and met the Trinity Twins in one semi-final while Community Astros took on the Northside Yankees in the other.  First Baptist and Community came out the winners and met in a rain-soaked final that was not quite to be.  After 4 1/2 innings the Astros had the lead 8-7, but heavy rain and lightning stopped the contest.  Since the teams did not complete the required five innings, the game had to be replayed entirely on Thursday, August 30 in St. Agatha. 

The Batsmen took the lead this time and were up 12-8 after five innings were complete.  The Astros came on strong, however, and were trailing by just 2 after eight innings, 20-18.  They scored two more in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 20-20.  With 2 out and just one man on first for the Batsmen in the home half of the ninth, it looked like extra innings would be needed to decide the championship.    After an intentional walk, then an unintentional one, the bases were loaded.  The next Batsmen hitter made it official, driving in the winning run to give the First Baptist Batsmen the A Division Championship by a final score of 21-20.  Congratulations Batsmen!

The B Division proved that anything can happen, anyone can win in this format as the 3rd and 5th place teams going in made it to the final.  Northside Falcons had a chance to defend their title against the First Baptist Crusaders.  The Falcons led most of the way, but First came back to within three in the 8th inning.  Northside would not be denied, however, as they scored 6 in the ninth to take the game and the championship 24-16. 

 Both teams wanted to commend Paul Magdy, the pitcher for Northside, for his amazing performance both in the field and at the plate, knocking two balls out of the park and also knocking on the corners with his 20 foot high pitches throughout the tournament.  Congratulations to everyone on a great season and finale! 

 In the C Division, the Grandview Gators met the New Hope Hurricanes for top spot - the top two seeds coming into the tournament and the top two teams through the round robin.  In a hard-fought, back and forth contest, the Gators prevailed 27-24 to remain undefeated on the weekend and take the 2007 C Division Championship!  Congratulations to all!