{"id":6593,"date":"2010-12-31T16:43:32","date_gmt":"2011-01-01T00:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=6593"},"modified":"2010-12-31T17:14:05","modified_gmt":"2011-01-01T01:14:05","slug":"napanee-north-key-express-canadian-champs-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=6593","title":{"rendered":"Napanee North Key Express, Canadian Jr. champs 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Click logo for original news story<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Playing in the big leagues<\/strong><\/p>\n

Canadian champs: The Napanee North Key Express win their first national junior men’s fastball title since 1997, beating the Nova Scotia Eagles 6-1 in the final in St. Croix, N.S.<\/p>\n

Joran Graham goes the distance on the mound for the Express, who will host the 2011 nationals.<\/p>\n

“Oh man, it’s incredible,” shortstop Kyle Lloyd of Newburgh said. “I’ve been to the nationals five years now and it seemed we just kept getting closer and closer, but we could not get (the championship). This is something they can’t take away from us, something I can remember the rest of my life.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Earlier articles on the Napanee Express from The Whig Standard:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Click logo for original news story<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nNapanee Express advance to Canadian junior fastball championship<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Mike Koreen\/QMI Agency<\/p>\n

Posted 5 months ago<\/p>\n

The Napanee North Key Express seem to enjoy doing things the hard way.<\/p>\n

For the third straight year, the Express qualified for the Canadian junior fastball championship after an early-tournament loss at the Ontario Eliminations \u2014 a double-knockout event \u2014 this weekend in Cobourg.<\/p>\n

While Napanee won its opener at the 15-team tourney \u2014 unlike at the previous two Elimination events \u2014 it dropped a 3-2 decision to Oshawa in its second game on Saturday to put the Express in a must-win situation for three straight games.<\/p>\n

With their backs against the wall, the Express stepped up. Napanee beat Maryhill 3-2 on Saturday and then notched a 7-0 mercy-shortened win over Tavistock on a five-inning perfect game by Kingston’s Josh Lockridge to advance to Sunday’s play.
\nNeeding a win to secure one of four Ontario spots at the nationals, the Express did just that, beating Fingal 9-3 on a complete game by Joran Graham. The pitcher also helped his own cause with a three-run homer.<\/p>\n

But that wasn’t the end of the good news. Napanee went on to beat Selkirk 9-3 and Linwood 4-2 to advance as the second team to the final against undefeated Owen Sound.<\/p>\n

That’s where the terrific run ended. Owen Sound, playing its fourth game of the three-day tournament, beat fatigued Napanee, playing its fourth game of the day and eighth of the tournament, 5-1 on Sunday afternoon. The Express would have needed to win two games in a row over Owen Sound to capture the title.<\/p>\n

“This is incredibly positive,” said Express head coach Joe Lewis, whose under-23 team will be off to St. Croix N.S. for the nationals from Aug. 2 to 8.<\/p>\n

“I couldn’t be happier.”<\/p>\n

The previous two years, the Express grabbed the final Ontario berth for the nationals.<\/p>\n

This year, they go to Nova Scotia as the province’s No. 2 seed. They’ll also be looking to build upon a bronze medal from last year’s Canadian championship.<\/p>\n

Seven players are back from last year’s squad.<\/p>\n

“This (weekend) was great for us,” Lewis said. “We played a lot of ball and our coaches \u2014 Dave Kerr and Cale Millen \u2014 got to really work the bench and learn when to make moves.”<\/p>\n

Lewis was especially pleased with his trio of pitchers \u2014 Graham and a couple of midget graduates in Lockridge and Ian Wallwork of Picton.<\/p>\n

Wallwork started the final and kept Owen Sound off the scoreboard for four innings before the winners touched up a bushed Graham for five runs in the fifth.<\/p>\n

“He was just out of gas,” Lewis said of the Micksburg resident, who had a super tournament.<\/p>\n

Kingston’s Jordan Hulton notched a run-scoring double in the seventh and final inning to break up Owen Sound’s shutout bid.<\/p>\n

Lucas McNeill of Newburgh was one of the key offensive players for Napanee. He hit back-to-back homers in the win over Linwood.<\/p>\n

The berth at nationals will only help Napanee as it prepares to host next year’s Canadian championship. Thirteen of the squad’s 15 players will be eligible to return next year.<\/p>\n

“We’ll be a year older and a year wiser,” Lewis said.<\/p>\n

But don’t take that as a sign that the Express is looking ahead to 2011. Lewis said the goal for his team will be to advance to the final weekend of nationals and contend for a medal this year.<\/p>\n

To gear up for this year’s national tourney, the Express will continue playing their regular Loughborough League schedule and also will look to enter some men’s tournaments.<\/p>\n

“We have to try to stay sharp and fundraise a bit,” Lewis said.<\/p>\n

But the team had something else in mind for the hours in the immediate aftermath of Eliminations.<\/p>\n

“We’re going to grab a snack at Shoeless Joe’s in Napanee and check out the air conditioning,” Lewis said after a weekend of intense ball in the hot sun.<\/p>\n

mkoreen@thewhig.com<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Championship Glory

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Click logo for original news story<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/strong><\/p>\n

By MIKE KOREEN, THE WHIG-STANDARD<\/p>\n

Nothing was going to stop Joran Graham and his Napanee North Key Express.<\/p>\n

Not the umpires, not the opposition and not Graham’s dreaded national fastball championship jinx.<\/p>\n

In his fifth crack at winning a Canadian title, the veteran Express pitcher erased memories of a bitter Saturday setback with a sensational Sunday at the Canadian junior men’s championship.<\/p>\n

Graham went the distance in a pair of Napanee wins, including a 6-1 victory over the host Nova Scotia Eagles in the championship game in St. Croix, N.S.
\n“It’s awesome. It’s a huge relief to get gold,” said the native of Micksburg (near Pembroke). I wanted to come back and prove everybody wrong by winning the gold-medal game. We battled back and beat the host team in front of their own fans.”<\/p>\n

Graham was more than a little ticked off after he was called for a handful of illegal pitches in a 9-1 loss to Nova Scotia on Saturday night that gave the Eagles the first berth in the final.<\/p>\n

While Graham, his teammates and coaches didn’t see eye-to-eye with the umpires, all got a chance to redeem themselves on Sunday.<\/p>\n

They earned a rematch with Nova Scotia with a 5-1 win over the Owen Sound Selects on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

“(Graham) pitched a complete game against Owen Sound and we just kept the saddle on the horse,” head coach Joe Lewis said.<\/p>\n

It proved to be an excellent decision. Graham gave up just six hits against Nova Scotia, coasting to victory after his team roared out to a 6-0 lead before the game was three innings old.<\/p>\n

“Oh man, it’s incredible,” said Napanee shortstop Kyle Lloyd of Newburgh, who gave the Express a 4-0 lead with a two-run double in the fourth.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been to the nationals five years now and it seemed we just kept getting closer and closer, but we could not get (the championship). This is something they can’t take away from us, something I can remember for the rest of my life.”<\/p>\n

Lloyd was named playoff MVP. He belted a two-run homer in the win over Owen Sound and chipped in with several outstanding defensive plays in the victory over Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n

Dylan Cunningham got Napanee going with a two-run homer in the first inning of the final. Lloyd followed with his double and then Ryan Mills of Selby mashed a ball out of the park in left for a two-run shot.<\/p>\n

That was more than enough for Graham, who bounced back after two sub-par outings (the loss to Nova Scotia and a 9-8 win over the Saskatoon Diamondbacks).<\/p>\n

“What a day,” said Lewis, whose team finished 10-2.<\/p>\n

“I am surprised it was that convincing a win, but I’m not surprised it was a win. The coaches felt if we could deal with Owen Sound, we could play a very good final against Nova Scotia.”<\/p>\n

While Napanee took the harder path to the championship game, in hindsight, the Saturday stinger may have been a good thing.<\/p>\n

“I really thought that game brought us back down to earth,” Lloyd said. “We got on a bit of a roll there (having won six games in a row), but for them to bury us like that, it set the boys straight. It showed us what we had to do.”<\/p>\n

The Express had talked all along about how they felt they had the roster to win gold.<\/p>\n

With Ian Wallwork of Picton and Josh Lockridge of Kingston backing up Graham on the mound, the Express had an excellent pitching staff.<\/p>\n

At the plate, they got contributions from all parts of the order. In the win against Owen Sound, Dan Burnham hit a three-run homer as a pinch-hitter.<\/p>\n

Against the host Eagles, the Express actually fed off the energy from the partisan crowd of about 3,000.<\/p>\n

“You don’t see too many fans at the diamond, especially in the Loughborough League,” Lloyd cracked. “It was something else. For us to step up like that says something about the depth of our team.”<\/p>\n

Many of the players, looking to save money, made the 16-hour drive to Nova Scotia instead of flying.<\/p>\n

However, an extra night’s stay seemed to be in order after the triumph.<\/p>\n

“We’ll live ‘er up tonight,” Lloyd said as he prepared for a well-earned evening of celebration.<\/p>\n

\u00a6<\/p>\n

The Express junior squad wasn’t the only Napanee team to have fastball success this weekend.<\/p>\n

The Express midget girls team and novice girls team both qualified for Eastern Canadian Tier II championships later this month.<\/p>\n

The midget team won the Ontario championship in St. Catharines, going 5-0 and allowing just three runs. Amelia Keech went 4-0 on the mound, including a win in a 5-1 victory over Port Perry in the final. Catcher Taylor Rogalsky won the batting title with a .600 average.<\/p>\n

The novices earned the fourth and final spot at Eastern Canadians with a 4-0 win over Stratford in Vaughan. Christie Copeland struck out 11 in the win that clinched an Eastern Canadian berth, while Montana Myers went 3-for-3.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Express bantam boys team won the provincial title in Kitchener-Waterloo after winning the Ontario Eliminations earlier this summer in Mitchell.<\/p>\n

– – –<\/p>\n

National champs<\/p>\n

History: Napanee has won five national titles since 1980 (three midgets and two juniors). The midget wins came in 1982, 1997 and 2005, while the junior triumph came in 1996.<\/p>\n

Location matters: Four of Napanee’s championships have come in eastern Canada– 2010 in St. Croix, N.S., 2005 in Miramichi, N.B., 1997 in Clarenville, Nfld. and 1996 in St. John’s, Nfld. Napanee won the midget title as host team in 1982. Sticking around: Two members of the 2010 national champs — Brent Mills and Craig McGarvey — were part of the 2005 midget championship team. Both teams were coached by Joe Lewis and Dave Kerr.<\/p>\n

On a roll: The Express won bronze at the national junior event last year and gold this year. Before that, Napanee’s most recent medal was a silver in 1999.<\/p>\n

Next year: Napanee hosts the 2011 junior nationals from Aug. 8 to 14.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Playing in the big leagues Canadian champs: The Napanee North Key Express win their first national junior men’s fastball title since 1997, beating the Nova Scotia Eagles 6-1 in the final in St. Croix, N.S. Joran Graham goes the distance on the mound for the Express, who will host the 2011 nationals. “Oh man, it’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,27],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"category-youth","9":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6593"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6607,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6593\/revisions\/6607"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}