U17 Athletics take OASA qualifier

Kneeling, from left to right, are Drew Roth, August Morschauser, Peyton Christie, Jacob Smaglinski and Jordan Zehr. Standing, from left to right, are Marshall McKay, Carson Gilmore, Jackson MacMillan, Dylan McCann, Jay Alexander, Colin Priestap, Ryan Davis and Evan Nahrgang. Contributed photo

By Lee Griffi

The U17 Tavistock Athletics have punched their ticket to the national championship tournament in British Columbia after an undefeated weekend in Napanee.

The team faced the Tara Twins in the gold-medal game and came away with an 8-1 victory. The A’s started the weekend with a 12-2 drubbing of the Kawartha Kraken and followed that up with a come-from-behind, walk-off 7-6 win over Tara. They qualified for the final with another walk-off win, 1-0 over the Elmira Heat.

“We are predominantly a first-year team at this age group, so we certainly weren't expecting to win the tournament this year,” said head coach Dave Nahrgang. “But this is such an athletic group of players, and the group's chemistry is great. The majority of these boys have been playing together for nine to 10 years. They all get along well, and they root for each other.”

Along with preparations for some stiff competition on the field, the team will now be putting in an effort to fundraise to cover some of the costs. Nahrgang said the cost will be substantial.

“The tournament runs from Aug. 5-9 in Surrey, B.C. We'll be travelling from Aug. 3 until the 10th, so the hotel rooms, flights and rental cars can really start to add up. For most of this team, this is our third consecutive trip to the Canadian championships, so we're certainly getting experience with all of the travel details,” Nahrgang said.

As is common in fastball, the team will have the opportunity to pick up one or two players from other Ontario teams that didn't qualify.

“We will assess what we think our team could use, and pick accordingly,” Nahrgang said. He added the goal is to come home with some hardware.

“I think we will be pretty competitive out there. We know the other Ontario teams (Elmira, Tara and Napanee) will be strong, and Nova Scotia is pretty strong at this age group. I want to think we could come home with a medal.”

The team has also qualified for the Ontario Summer Games from July 31 to Aug. 2 at Budd Park in Kitchener. 

“It's going to be a great few days of fastball, and a great experience for the team,” Nahrgang said.