The 2008 version of the University of Ottawa Softball Gee-Gees will be selected at our annual evaluation camp on August 29-31.

All interested athletes must complete the attached form and return it to Ottawausoftball@hotmail.com before August 10.

The Gee-Gees softball program was very well represented at the Tier One Junior Provincials in St. Catherines on the weekend.

Gee-Gees alumni Allison Hibbett and Erin Mulvihill helped to lead the host team to a heart-breaking 2-1 loss in extra innings against the eventual Ontario Champions, Pickering Heat. Another Gee-Gee-Vanessa Homiak helped lead Pickering to a first place finish, going undefeated for the Championship.

The Orleans Rebels took home a Bronze Medal, with a handfull of athletes from the Garnet and Grey.  Led by Head Coach Scott Searle who enjoy the same role with the Gee-Gees; Erin Durant, Sam Pantalone, Jillian Taylor, Emily Ernst, and Elissa Sivel all played key roles in the strong finish.  This will be the first appearance in a Canadian Championship for Erin, Emily and Elissa. The team added to their strong relationship with the Garnet and Grey as they picked up Gee-Gee first baseman Laura Skiperis from the Guelph Midget team.  After the tournament, Jillian Taylor-the Gee-Gees MVP from the 2007 season was given yet another honour when she was awarded MVP at the Provincial Championships.  Congratulations Jill!

The friendly rivalry will contine to Prince Edward Island as Pickering and Orleans represent Ontario battling for a medal before all of these fine athletes come back to Ottawa to chase a Gold Medal in the OIWFA. 

A Bronze Age for Gee-Gees

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees Softball team cashed in a 6^th place seed after the regular season for a Bronze Medal in the Championship tournament. The team seemed to save its best performance for the apex of the season as they strutted to a 4-1 record in the OIWFA Championship tournament held at Stronach Park in London this past weekend.

The team opened its weekend against the 2^nd seed in McMaster University. This was an ironic match-up as the two teams split their double-header, trading one run games only the week before. The Gee-Gees got off to a strong start behind a walk to Marea Modutlwa playing in her last weekend as a Gee-Gee, who promptly stole 2^nd and 3^rd base only to be driven in by an Erin Durant single. A promising inning resulted in only one run as Marauder star, Shannon Galea settled down with a pair of strikeouts. The Gee-Gees struck again in the 6^th inning to break open a 3-3 tie with 4 runs manufactured by a series of bunts, slaps, and steals. Emily Ernst took the ball in a pressure packed situation and showed her acumen in only her first year as she scattered 4 hits and only 1 earned run over 5 innings of work. Jillian Taylor finished the game with a bang, collecting the last 6 outs for the Gee-Gees behind 5 straight strikeouts as the game ended 8-3. A very solid start for the Gee-Gees as they upset one of the top teams in the OIWFA.

Their work was not done as they had to play York University and the 2^nd seed in the University of Toronto back-to-back on Saturday morning. It would be a tall task for the Gee-Gees as they had split their series with York, and dropped both games at home to the Varsity Blues. The team once again sent Emily Ernst to the circle who was fantastic through 5 innings in front of a stellar Gee-Gees defense, keeping York to only 1 run. Another rookie, Laura Skiperis delivered the crushing blow in the 6^th inning with a 2 RBI single. Another close game in the playoffs against a resurgent York Lions squad.

With a 2-0 record the Gee-Gees faced another very difficult opponent, in the 2^nd ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues. The Blues had taken both games from the Gee-Gees in the regular season and knocked the Garnet and Grey out of the playoffs in the 2006 semi-final. The Gee-Gees once again jumped to a strong start with a 1-0 lead and never looked back. Elissa Sivel saved her best performance of the year for a critical game, throwing a magnificent 5 innings allowing 1 one run on 2 hits and keeping the potent Blues offense at bay. She also contributed a pair of triples in her first 2 at-bats in a very clutch performance. Jillian Taylor came in once again to shut the door and allowed one run in the 6^th and the Blues loaded the bases in the bottom of the 7^th and pushed across one run to shrink the Gee-Gee lead to 6-3, and bringing Karlene Cooper to the plate with a chance to win the game. She ripped a shot to dead-center field, and Vanessa Homiak chased the ball over her shoulder and made a diving catch against the fence bringing everyone in the park to their feet to save the game. A fantastic effort to make one of the best catches anyone has ever seen, with a flair for the dramatic as well. The Gee-Gees finished the round-robin 3-0 and the top seed in Pool B.

On Saturday evening the team attended the first banquet in OIWFA history and Vanessa Homiak and Jillian Taylor were awarded Team MVP awards. Jillian was also recognized for her efforts in the “Run for the Cure” in Ottawa for raising over $2000 to cure Breast Cancer. Emily Ernst received recognition for throwing a no-hitter against Queens and the entire team was congratulated for twin efforts to Support Canadian Troops and “Strike Out Breast Cancer” The Gee-Gees are also very proud to note that they received an impromptu “Best Dressed Award” for their efforts at the Banquet.

On Sunday the Gee-Gees went straight to the Semi-Final match up and waited for Laurier to defeat McMaster to find out their opponent. The Gee-Gees again jumped to an early 1-0 lead before Laurier piled on 4 runs to go ahead 4-1. The Gee-Gees responded in the 5^th inning to tie it up, and again Allie Rutherford was the hero with a 2 RBI single to put the team ahead in the top of the 7^th. Allie had a fantastic weekend, and always seemed to come up with the big hit for the Gee-Gees. It seemed like fate was with the Gee-Gees but a a few uncharacteristic errors highlighted their only bad inning of the weekend and cost them a win as the Golden Hawks pushed across 3 runs to take a 7-6 victory.

This set up a re-match for the Gee-Gees with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues for the Bronze medal. A see-saw game between two strong teams went back and forth as both teams exchanged runs in the early going. Emily Ernst threw another gem for the Gee-Gees holding the Blues to 4 runs over 6 innings as the team took a 5-4 win for the Bronze Medal. A nice finish to a very impressive weekend for the Gee-Gees with their 5^th top 3 finish in a row. They will seek to improve on this next year.

Vanessa Homiak and Jillian Taylor were awarded Team MVP awards. Jillian was also recognized for her efforts in the “Run for the Cure” in Ottawa for raising over $2000 to cure Breast Cancer. Emily Ernst received recognition for throwing a no-hitter against Queens and the entire team was congratulated for twin efforts to Support Canadian Troops and “Strike Out Breast Cancer” The Gee-Gees are also very proud to note that they received an impromptu “Best Dressed Award” for their efforts at the Banquet.

In AUGUST 2007, fastball players in Canada lost a great icon of their sport, Gil Read. In February of this year, Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) President and former Gee-Gees fastball player Pam Hrick tabled a motion at the SFUO’s Board of Administration (BOA) to create a $1,000 annual scholarship for competitive club athletes.

The motion was passed, and in a unique occurrence, Sports Services decided to match the SFUO’s $10,000 deposit. It was later stated that the scholarship would be named in Read’s honour.

During the BOA meeting March 2, Hrick re-introduced her scholarship idea with an amendment. The funding would need to be increased in order to make the scholarship sustainable; her amendment was to increase the funding to $22,000 (once again matched by Sports Services) and she was met with zero opposition.

Hrick knew Read well. He joined the team as a practice coach, but his influence extended far beyond the field. Scott Searle, current head coach of the fastball team, had only good things to say about Read.

“His values of commitment to excellence, competing with class, and representing yourself with pride have carried through in our [fastball] program and we are all thrilled to see his name attached to a scholarship,” he said.

Read has an extensive biography in the world of fastball and softball. He worked with Softball Canada for numerous events and led the Canadian women’s softball team at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He joined the U of O’s women’s fastball team in 2004 and guided them to a provincial silver medal in 2005. The same year, he was awarded the Mark Lowry Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in sports administration and volunteerism at an Ottawa Sports Awards dinner.

Read died suddenly last summer of a stroke, caused by an ATV accident. He was 53. His wife, Georgia, was pleased with the idea of creating a scholarship in his name. She has received many offers to name tournaments after him—a testament to his effect on others in the fastball community.

“Gil left an indelible mark on our program and my life personally,” Searle added.

Distribution of the scholarship has not yet been determined, but its criteria will likely combine athletics, academics, and community service. It is the first time the SFUO and Sports Services have worked together for a club-sport scholarship.

Courtesy of the Fulcrum.

       Frank Cox, a long-time member of the Canadian National Softball team and one of the best male pitchers in the world was in Ottawa last week to help the Gee-Gees prepare for the 2008 season. Athletes from the University of Ottawa program joined students from St. Peter High School to listen to instruction from the World Class pitcher who focused on off-season conditioning programs.  

        Cox, who lead a two-hour clinic over the weekend  is a 3-time World Champion, and has been named MVP of the National Championships 6 times.  He hopes to lead Canada to victory at the ISF World Championships next year in Saskatoon.

        The team will take his advice in their preparation phase for the 2008 OIWFA Season.