Sat Sept 13 Toronto
@ Brock
2 & 4pm
Sun Sept 14 Toronto
@ McMaster
12 & 2pm
Sat Sept 20 Toronto home
(Birchwood Park)
vs. Carleton
2 & 4pm
Sun Sept 21 Toronto home
vs. Ottawa
12 & 2pm
Sat Sept 27 Toronto
@ Waterloo
2 & 4pm
Sun Sept 28 Toronto
@ Laurier
12 & 2pm
Sat Oct 4 Toronto home
vs. York
2 & 4pm
Sun Oct 5 Toronto home
vs. Queens
12 & 2pm
Fri Oct 10 Toronto
@ Windsor
6 & 8pm
THANKSGIVING WEEKEND
Sat Oct 11th Toronto
@ Western
2 & 4pm
Fri-Sun Oct 17-19th
OIWFA playoffs
@ Laurier
(top 8 qualify)
The Blues fastpitch team went into the weekend knowing that they faced the toughest of tasks. As the 5th placed team in the OIWFA regular season they were placed in the strongest pool containing Guelph, McMaster and Western.
The Blues bats never got going against Guelph on Friday and lost the game 3-1 with Mel Monson pitching another great game. On Saturday morning the Blues faced Western who are the #1 team in the OIWFA this season. Falling behind early to a series of errors, the Blues showed great spirit to fight back to being 10-9 down in the top of the 7th. Charlsie Searle reached 1st base but a disastrous double play saw the Blues revival come to a sudden end. The Blues now knew they had to beat McMaster by 4 runs to make the knock out stages on Sunday. The Blues got off to a great start going 3-0 up but a series of errors again was the undoing of the Blues as a McMaster took a 5-3 lead, with none of runs being earned. Nothing was going right for the Blues as Monson got no support and going in to the top of the 7th, the Blues were 8-3 down. With 2 out Winnie Law reached 1st base and then scored on a Headley-Cooper double, Monson then hit Headley-Cooper home to take the score to 8-5 but that was all the at the Blues could manage.
At the OIWFA banquet pitchers Charlsie Searle and Mel Monson were awarded OIWFA All Star status in recognition of their outstanding performances not only in the pitcher's circle but also with the bat. This is Searle's 2nd OIWFA All Star award in consecutive years.
When the season started former Blue baseball alumni Jamie Simpson, who is head coach, knew it was going to be a tough rebuilding year. To reach 5th place in the OIWFA with a 12-8-2 record was a major achievement and gives Simpson and Assistant Coach, former Blue player, Steph Ho something to build on for the future. However the team loses 5 graduating players including both pitchers as they hope to bounce back in 2009.
Graduating Players 2008
Heather Roth Pharmacy
Heather has the honour of being one of only 2 longest playing OIWFA players. She has represented the Blues in every playoff weekend since the league started in 2002. During her time she has won a bronze medal in 2002, a gold medal in 2005 and a silver medal in 2006. He has played either short stop or 1st base and proved to be good low order hitter.
Karlene Headley-Cooper Exercise Science
Karlene is the other player who has played in every OIWFA Championship since 2002. Like Roth she has won a bronze medal in 2002, a gold medal in 2005 and a silver medal in 2006. During this time she has been the most feared batter in the league and caught just about everything that has gone near centre field. The experiences she has gained playing for Great Britain in the 2006 World Cup of Softball (where she was on a GB team that led current Olympic Champions, Japan 5-2), in the 2006 Softball World Cup where she hit a solo home run out of the park to help GB to a 1-0 against Korea and helped the GB to reach #10 in the world have helped Headley-Cooper become a strong leader for the Blues both on and off the field. Every team in the league will be very glad to know they will not have to pitch to her again.
Mel Monson OISE/UT
Mel returned to the Blues team this year after missing a year. She has both a gold and silver OIWFA medal from pervious years. However it is this season that Mel has been given the chance to show her real talents. As one of 2 starting pitchers, she has shared the duties each week with Charlsie Searle. Her biggest win came against defending champions Laurier. She has also been one of the most consistent batters in the Blues line up in the clean up spot. In recognition of her outstanding, play Mel was awarded 2008 OIWFA All Star status.
Charlsie Searle Engineering
Charlsie joined the team in 2004, but went to NCAA Division 1 school Delaware State in 2005 before returning to the Blues in 2006 when she won an OIWFA silver medal. She has always been one of the Blues starting pitchers and contribute with her bat lower down the order. She has been team captain for the past 2 years and a member of Varsity Board during that time. Her contribution to the team both on and off the field has been recognised by 2 consecutive OIWFA Allstar Awards in 2007 and 2008.
Megan Barkway Pharmacy
Megan has been a Blues player for 3 years at either 3rd base or catching where she is equally at home. In her first year she was part of the team who won a silver medal, but really came into her own as she took over the catching duties in the 2007 OIWFA playoffs. However this season has seen as a permanent starter at 3rd base where she has been the infield leader on the team. Her enthusiasm, effort and team spirit will be sorely missed.
universityoftorontofastpitchteam@yahoo.com
April 18, 2008 - The Varsity Blues womens fast pitch team kicked off the year with a win at the 6th Annual U of T Varsity Challenge finishing off with a record of 5-0-1. The Blues kept the drive alive and finished second in OWIFA league play with a record of 17-5. However, the team faltered slightly in the post season, falling one game short of an OWIFA bronze medal.
Fifth-year short stop Stephanie Ho was recognized by OWIFA with her second all-star nod as was graduating pitcher Lisa Kennedy. The two were also awarded league MVPs for their outstanding performance during the 2007 season.