Right about the time the Niagara Metros' season was coming to an end, one of their catcher's seasons was likewise coming to a disappointing conclusion.  Albeit, in another game...and even in another province.

You'll recall last week we told you that the Metros' Dustin Wiley had been picked to join the Windsor Stars, as they attempted to win a National Senior Men's title in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on the weekend.  Well, the Stars ran into the same kind of trouble that Niagara did, as the Metros competed for the C.O.M.B.L. title, in Milton.  They played well...but not well enough to advance to the medal round, finishing 2-3 in the round-robin. 

After losing their opening game 4-2 to the host Dartmouth club, the Stars ran off two wins in a row, defeating Newfoundland 10-0 and Saskatchewan 14-12 (on a walkoff Grand Slam HR by Justin Pennell, a pick up from the Thornhill Reds).  But that's where the good news ended for the Stars.  On Saturday afternoon the Ontario club committed 4 errors, leading to 3 unearned runs, as Manitoba came back to win 6-5.  Then, a couple of hours later, another error led to a pair of unearned runs, as New Brunswick defeated Windsor 3-1, to end their weekend.

While the outcome was obviously a disappointment for Mr. Wiley and the Stars as a team, Dustin had a solid tournament, once again.  The Metros' catcher (who played with Windsor for 9 seasons) went into Dartmouth with a .322 career average, along with 2 HR's and 10 RBI's, at the National event.  And he added to those impressive numbers this year.  In his 4 games, Dustin went 4 for 7 (.571), with a double, a home run, and 5 RBI's.  By the way, British Columbia went on to capture the Gold medal, with a 1-0 win over the host team Dartmouth, in the finals.  New Brunswick beat Manitoba 2-1 to win the bronze.

Congrats Dustin on being selected to play in the tournament, and for making a solid contibution to the Stars' effort.  But of course, we share your disappointment at the outcome of the tourney from a wins and losses standpoint.  Believe us...we know how you feel!


JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

We have posted a couple of new updates to the website, and this announcement is just in case you missed them.  First of all, we updated the final statistics for the Metros 2010 season.  The stats are inclusive of all 39 games the team played this year...regular season, tournaments and playoffs.  Just go to the "Standings / Stats" page of the website, and scroll to the bottom.  There you'll find links for the final batting, pitching and fielding statistics for 2010.

Just a couple of quick observations from these stats:  The Metros finished with a .309 team batting average (the 3rd highest mark the club has achieved since the advent of wood-bat baseball).  And their outstanding .415 team On Base Pct. was the highest in the same time-frame, just a few percentage points off their team record .429 mark, set in 1996.  The team also (for the first time in their 26-year history) collected more walks than strikeouts...222 BB's to 221 K's.  The Metros' .959 fielding average was the 3rd best all time, behind the record .964 average achieved in 2007.  And the team ERA, while a very good 3.15, was only the team's 5th best mark in the wood-bat era, behind the record-setting 2.39 ERA set in 2001.  We'll look at some of the individual accomplishments achieved by some of the Metros' players, later in the off-season.

Finally, we've added a few photos (9 to be exaxt) from our Championship Playoff weekend in Milton.  We got some great "action shots" to add to our collection.  To view these new photos, click on "Photo Album", and scroll to the bottom.  We're sure you'll enjoy them.

Till next week take it easy, and have a great (but safe) long Labour Day weekend!
         

The Niagara Metros' long and productive season came to an end yesterday, after losing a tough 7-6 decision to the Glanbrook Grizzlies in the C.O.M.B.L. Playoff Championship tourney.  The Grizzlies then went on and defeated the Milton Red Sox twice, to claim a well-earned league championship (their first in team history).

In the Metros' semi-final loss, Niagara scored five 6th-inning runs to come from behind and take a 6-2 lead over the Grizz.  But the never-say-die Glanbrook club took advantage of a key Metros' error and a couple of hits, to score 3 unearned runs off Metros' starter Dustin Turner, making the score 6-5 going into the 7th.  The Grizz then completed the comeback by scoring two against reliever Chris Magarian...the winning run coming on a bases-loaded walk (just the 9th walk Magarian had issued all season).  Magarian took the loss, allowing the 2 runs on 1 hit while striking out 1.  Turner started and went 5 2/3 innings, giving up 5 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits, while walking 1 and striking out 8.  Tim Sogan went the distance to pick up the win for Glanbrook.

Offensively, the Metros' 9-hit attack was led by Jonathan Paul and Tim Collins, who collected 2 hits each (with Paul picking up an RBI).  Mike Czerwieniec had a 2-run single, while Joe Roach had an RBI single and 2 walks. Geoff Strong added an RBI double, and Daniel Proctor an RBI single.  Jono Marcheterre rounded out the offense with a single.  Sogan helped his own cause with a HR for the Grizz.

The weekend started out well for Niagara, as they picked up a win against the tough Mississauga Twins on Saturday morning.  The score was 10-3.  The top of the batting order was very productive for Niagara in this one, as leadoff hitter Matt Spillman collected a double, 2 walks, 2 runs and an RBI Sac Fly...two hitter Dan Proctor singled 3 times, added a pair of walks, and scored 3 times...and three hitter Joe Roach singled twice and added a 2-run homer (for a 3 RBI game).  Jonathan Paul added a 2-run HR while Chris Pickles chipped in with a 2-run single.  Garrett Fisher added a double, and Andrew Sorochan an RBI single in the Metros' 11-hit attack.

Meanwhile, Metros' starter Mike Czerwieniec was keeping the Twins' powerful offense at bay, limiting the Mississauga club to 3 runs and 5 hits, in his complete-game victory.  Czerwieniec walked 3, and struck out 0 for his 2nd win of the season.

The Saturday morning win put them into a matchup with the Milton Red Sox on Saturday afternoon...but this game was not one of the Metros' better ones.  With a brutal sun field in right, there were numerous catchable fly balls that made their way to the ground (for both teams), making the game a comedy of errors.  However, the Red Sox were better able to take advantage of the other team's mistakes, and emerged with a 6-1 win.

Once again, the hard-luck loser was Jason Ermers for Niagara.  He went 3 2/3 innings before leaving with a sore arm, having pitched effectively, but becoming a victim of the shoddy play behind him.  Ermers allowed 4 runs (0 earned), on 3 hits and 4 walks.  He struck out 2.  Chris Magarian followed Ermers to the mound, and tossed 1 1/3 innings, allowing a run on 3 hits, while walking 1 and striking out 1.  Brandon Beattie finished up and pitched very well, going the final 2 innings, and shutting out the Red Sox on 1 hit and 1 walk.  He struck out 2.  Liam Tennant picked up the Milton win.  

Niagara managed just 5 hits, with Jonathan Paul and Chris Pickles leading the way with doubles.  Joe Roach, Dustin Turner, and Tim Collins added singles.  Nick Mazzarotto and Sean Mathe collected RBI doubles for the Sox.  

As mentioned, the Glanbrook Grizzlies went on to defeat the Red Sox twice in the finals to win the C.O.M.B.L. Playoff Championship.  The Metros want to congratulate Glanbook on a fantastic season, in which they also captured the regular season pennant.  As for the Metros, they finish the year 22-17 over the course of the year (including tournaments and playoffs).  And with the collection of young talent that the team has secured this year, the team feels that the 2010 season has provided a strong foundation on which to build for the future.  Congratulations, guys.