Any athlete hoping to try-out for the 2009 version of the Gee-Gees must complete the attached form and return it to Ottawausoftball@hotmail.com before August 10th.

Any questions, contact Scott Searle at Scottsearle@rogers.com

The University of Ottawa 's competitive sports banquet on April 2^nd concluded a great week for the Gee-Gees softball program.

Orleans resident Jillian Taylor and Vanessa Homiak were awarded Quest for Gold scholarships from the Provincial Womens Softball Association and the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion. These scholarships are awarded to elite athletes who live, study and train in Ontario based on athletic performance. Jill and Vanessa received the scholarship based on their performance in 2008 where both athletes led their respective club teams to medals at the Ontario Provincials and the Jr. Womens National Championship in Summerside Prince Edward Island . Vanessa led the Pickering Heat to a Gold Medal at the Provincials and a Silver Medal at the Canadian Championships. Vanessa was critical to the teams success at the Nationals with 2 game-winning RBI's. Jillian was instrumental in the Orleans Rebels bronze medal performance at the Provincials, and was named the tournaments MVP. These scholarships are worth $8,000 each and are a great incentive for Ontario athletes to train at home.

Sustaining the program's reputation for academic excellence, we maintained our 100% graduation rate and two of our athletes were accepted into teacher's college at the University of Ottawa . Elissa Sivel and Jillian Taylor will don the garnet and grey in 2009 in their last year of eligibility.

Finally, Jillian Taylor was named the Competitive Sports Club Female Athlete of the Year for her 2008 performance. Jill finished the year with 13 wins for the Gee-Gees, leading the team to a silver medal at the Provincial Championships. She set a team records for wins, most strikeouts, lowest ERA (.71) and most stolen bases in a season (11) . Jillian was second in the team in batting average (0.477), hits (31) and runs scored (15). Significant accolades came with this very successful season – Jillian was awarded the team MVP, the Top Pitcher in the league (OIWFA), a Quest for Gold Scholarship and an Ottawa Sports Award for the Top Softball Player in the city.

Jillian joins Gee-Gees Alumni Danna Masters (2003) and Lindsey McLaughlin (2005 , 2006) in winning this prestigious award amongst 17 other competitive sports clubs within the University . 

Finally, the team was awarded a Calvary Award as the Top Competitive Club of the Year.  http://www.thefulcrum.ca/node/2703

The Gee-Gees will de-centralize for the summer as they all chase various athletic goals throughout the summer before re-convening in the fall in their quest for an OIWFA Championship and their first appearance at a University National Championship.

Scott Searle

Head Coach

Silver Lining brings end to Bronze Age for Gee-Gees 

The Gee-Gees travelled to Waterloo on Friday night knowing that they were in tough, kicking off their Championship schedule against the defending champion Laurier Golden Hawks.  The Golden Hawks are coming off a silver medal at last weeks inaugural University National Championships and are perennially one of the toughest teams in the OIWFA.  The Gee-Gees fell behind early as an error led to a Laurier run in the first, before Jillian Taylor settled down to throw a gem.  Jill allowed 2 runs on 6 hits to one of the top offensive teams in Ontario. The offense kicked into gear in the 3^rd inning with 4 hits from the Gee-Gees own Murderers Row as Vanessa Homiak, Mallory Watson, Laura Gallant, and Laura Skiperis as the team raced for 3 runs which would be the difference maker.  The Gees threatened again in the 5^th inning leaving the bases loaded and Laurier mounted a comeback in the bottom of the 7^th scoring a run to push the score to 3-2 and leaving 2 runners on base when Ottawa recorded the 3^rd out.  A very strong start for the Gee-Gees as they chased their second OIWFA Championship.

            The Gee-Gees continued their strong weekend with a win over a very tough Queens team.  Queens jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning before the Gee-Gees responded with  5 of their own in the second to close the scoring and take a 5-4 victory. The damage was done behind 5 hits in a row from the Gee-Gees, Laura Skiperis was an offensive star with a 2/3 afternoon and Emily Ernst picked up the win and helped her own cause with a 2/3 outing at the plate. After a rough start Emily settled down to allow only 1 hit in the next 6 innings to pick up the win.

            The team looked to clinch first spot in their pool with a win over the Windsor Lancers in the first matchup between these two teams in 2008. Again, the Gee-Gees fell behind early as Windsor jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first inning.  The Gee-Geees responded immediately as Vanessa Homiak singled and was driven in by Mallory Watson. Radha Khosla and Rachel Legaspi were both stars against their old team as Radha exploded for a ¾ outing with a run scored, and Rachel scampered to 2 hits and a walk.  Amanda Toll came off the bench and drove in the teams 4^th run in the bottom of the 6^th inning. Amanda has proven to be a deadly pinch hitter with 6 hits off the bench this year.

            At the OIWFA Banquet, Jillian Taylor and Vanessa Homiak were awarded team MVP honours, and Jillian was named Top Pitcher in the OIWFA Championship tournament.

            The Gee-Geed advanced directly to the semi-final and were scheduled to play the winner of McMaster and Windsor.  McMaster mounted a dramatic comeback in the bottom of the 7^th to take a gutsy 3-2 victory.  The Gee-Gees sent Jillian Taylor to the circle and she allowed 1 run in the first inning before settling in and allowing only 4 hits the rest of the game as the Gee-Gees stole a 6-1 victory.  Laura Gallant and Laura Skiperis drove the offense for the Gees with 3 hits each, Mallory Watson drove in a pair of runs with a bloop hit in the 6^th inning.  The Gee-Gees showed off their versatility as a pair of bunt singles, followed by a double-steal and a 2 RBI single from Laura Gallant put the game out of reach. 

            The team moved into their first OIWFA Championship game since 2004, despite finishing on the podium for 4 straight years against the top-ranked University of Western Ontario Mustangs.  The Gee-Gees appeared to be in control as they got their first two batters on base and scored a run in the first inning.  They had runners on 1^st and 3^rd with red-hot Laura Gallant at the plate and Western pitcher Kristina Lemon appeared to make a play on Mallory Watson who was between 1^st and 2^nd base, the home plate umpire disagreed and called Radha Khosla on 3^rd base out for leadoff, killing the rally.  With 2 outs, back-to-back hits from Laura Gallant and Laura Skiperis could not score a run and the Gee-Gees offense went quiet for the rest of the afternoon. The Gee-Gees could not push back against the potent Western offense as they raced to 5 runs, uncharacteristic defensive and baserunning lapses cost the Gee-Gees opportunities and gave the talented Western hiters too much time to drive in runs.

            Second place was a disappointing finish to a very successful season for the garnet and grey that exceeded all expectations.  Despite losing 6 starters from the 2007 team, the 2008 Gee-Gees recorded more wins and finished higher in the regular season as well as the Championship tournament.  Strong kudos must go out to an elite group of leaders on the team who helped stay the course in some rough waters.

            The Gee-Gees will move into their talent identification phase to begin recruiting new athletes for the 2009 season as they will chase their 100^th regular season victory, and the elusive OIWFA Championship.

The Gee-Gees were recently named the Fulcrum (Student Newspaper) Calvary Award for Top Club team of 2008. The full article is below:

The Gee-Gees women's fastball team had another outstanding season in 2008, improving on their bronze medal finish in the Ontario Intercollegiate Women's Fastball Association (OIWFA) 2007 championships with a silver medal finish this year. After collecting a 14-4 record during the regular season, the Gee-Gees went on to take the playoffs by storm. Ottawa swept past the competition in the round-robin portion of the OIWFA championships, defeating the Laurier Golden Hawks, Queen's Golden Gaels, and Windsor Lancers to finish first in their pool and advance to the semi-finals. After a 6-1 win against the McMaster Marauders in that game, the Gee-Gees finally fell in the final, losing 5-1 to the Western Mustangs—an unfortunate cap to an otherwise excellent season.

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.