Legionnaires Come a Run Short

To close out the long weekend, Listowel welcomed the undefeated Stratford Nationals to town for an early season bout. The Legionnaires started Zilliax on the hill, and despite allowing a run in the first, he settled in by striking out 5 of his final 6 batters, going two and two-thirds. Listowel answered that early run with one of their own in the second via a Bradley RBI single. With some momentum, Listowel doubled up their runs with one in the third, courtesy of an RBI double by Parkhouse over the right fielder’s head. However, this lead was short lived, as Stratford answered with a run, a single, and some aggressive baserunning to tie it up. The Nationals then took advantage of the Legionnaires grass infield, which ate up some ground balls, assisted by a couple of errors that resulted in a 3 run lead for Stratford. In a last ditch effort, Listowel got a rally going in the sixth with 2 hits and 2 walks. RBIs by Doig and Nichol brought home Harrison and Parkhouse to cut the lead to one. Then, with the tying run on third, Listowel made a gamble by trying to steal home on a pass ball, and a slight hesitation resulted in an out, ending the rally. The Legionnaires did manage to get the tying run into scoring position in the seventh, but back-to-back Ks locked up the win for the Nationals, 5-4. Notables include, Adamson getting his first pitching experience going a solid 2 innings allowing only 3 hits. Birk also tallied his first hit as an 11U player.

• Star #1: Parkhouse (Offensively went 1/2, with a 2B & RBI. He also caught someone stealing)
• Star #2: Harrison (Offensively went 1/2, while also 1.1 IP, 0R, 0H)
• Star #3: Zilliax (2.2 IP, 5Ks, 1R, 1H, 1BB)

Up next, the Legionnaires (1-2) will welcome the Waterloo Tigers (1-1) to town to conclude a 4 game stretch over 4 days.

Sunday’s Line Up

After a struggle with the bats yesterday, the Legionnaires will make a six player roster switch for Sunday evening. These moves include the return of veterans Parkhouse and Williams, and the debut of Magee and Birk. Adamson and Donaldson will also close out the order with their second 11U game. Zilliax will get the start, making him the twelfth Legionnaire pitcher to throw in just 6 days.

Saturday Split

On Saturday Afternoon, the young Legionnaires ventured to Hamilton for their first and only trip this year. the schedule was a set up for a doubleheader to accomodate the drive.

Game 1: Legionnaires Win 8-4

Maybe it was “car-leg”, but the Legionnaires had a rough start to game one on the day. After failing to get anything going in the top half of the first, the bottom half was one of those half innings you need to forget and move on. This dreaded inning included 4 fielding errors, a dozen pass balls and just some ugly baseball that resulted in the Cardinals jumping out to a 4-0 lead. However, after this wake up call, the Legionnaires bared down and began to mount a comeback. Neves, Bradley, and Frook led this charge from the mound, shutting down the Cardinals offense for six straight innings, and only allowing a single hit in the process. Also contribuing defensively was some all around smooth defense. Some of these defensive contributors included, Harrison, Eby, Stanley, Zilliax, and Bradley. Offensively, Listowel tallied a single run in the second, a max four runs in the fourth, and three more insurance runs in the sixth. Frook (3), Neves(3), Strickler (3), and Doig(2) all recorded a multi-hit game and posted 11 of Listowel’s 13 hits in total. All said and done, the Legionnaires captured game one of the day, and their first win of the year, by a score of 8-4.

• 1st Star: Frook (Offensively went 3/3, with 3 RBIs, also went 3IP, 1K, 1H, 1 BB, 0R)
• 2nd Star: Neves (Offensively went 3/3, with 1 RBI, also went 2IP, 2K, 1H, 1BB)
• 3rd Star: Strickler (Offensively went 3/3, with 1 RBI)

Game 2: Cardinals Win 7-2

After a short break, and with the temperature rising, Listowel and Hamilton got right back at it. With the very first batter of the game, Listowel actually jumped out to a 1-0 lead early courtesy of some excellent baserunning by Strickler and a Neves RBI. Unfortunately this lead was short lived as the Cardinals tallied runs in each of the first four innings, accumulating to a 7-2 lead through four. On the mound for Listowel, Eby, Strickler, and Doig got a couple innings each. Doig actually shutdown the Cardinal bats in the fifth and six, but the Legionnaires bats were astray as they couldn’t close the gap, losing 7-2.

• 1st Star: Neves (Offensively went 2/3)
• 2nd Star: Eby (Offensively went 1/2, well also going 2IP, 2K, 2BB, 3H)
• 3rd Star: Riley (Offensively went 1/3, and caught very well behind the plate)

Saturday Notables:

• Listowel’s Batters recorded 28 Strikeouts (2/Inning) – Ouch!!
• Neves was the only Listowel player without a Strikeout all day
• Listowel’s Pitchers actually only gave up 10 hits over the two games – Well done picthers!

Up next, Listowel will welcome league favourites, in Startford, to town tomorrow night at 6. Bring a lawn chair and come on out to the ball diamond and cheer on the young Legionnaires.

Off to Hamilton

As most families go to cottages or camping on the May 2-4 weekend, this year the 11U Legionnaires will head into the city to kick-start their ICBA regular season. The young Legionnaires will make the trip to Hamilton to play an afternoon doubleheader against the Cardinals. Game one starts at noon.

The Legionnaires are coming in off of a tough preseason game against Mitchell, and will look to rally and tally their first win of the year on Saturday. Game one will see Neves start on the hill, while Nichol receives behind the plate. Also, in the line up is Harrison, Riley, and Frook looking to keep their hit streak alive. While looking to spark some additional offense and making their season debuts include Eby, Doig, Strickler, and Stanley.

Legionnaires Fall in Opener

Well, after a last minute diamond change, the Legionnaires kick started their 2024 campaign on Tuesday evening against the Mitchell Astros. To coach Hollinger’s surprise, the Legionnaires’ offense stumbled out of the block as the Astros pitchers kept the Listowel bats hit less through three. This gave the Astros a chance to strike first, scoring two in the first, courtesy of two walks and a single. This 2-0 lead held strong until the 5th, when Listowel rallied four across the plate. The rally started with a two-run double by Riley, and concluded with a two-run single by Frook. Unfortunately, just a half inning later Mitchell rebounded with four runs of their own in the sixth, then added 3 more runs in the seventh as insurance. On the mound, Listowel used five different pitchers that battled their way inning after inning. Each inning Mitchell had a player reach base, whether this was one of 12 hits or 6 walks given up by the Legionnaires’ pitching rotation. Despite a late surge, Listowel’s offense just never found its groove posting only 6 hits and striking out 12 times. In the end, Mitchell made the trip back down highway 23 with a 9-5 victory.

Up next, Listowel will hit the road this long weekend with a Saturday Doubleheader in Hamilton, then back at home on Sunday and Tuesday.

Legionnaires Three Stars

1. Willaims (Offensively 1/3, with 1 SB, & 1R ; Pitching-wise had 1IP, 0R, 2K, 1 H, 0BB)
2. Harrison (Offensively 1/2, with 1B and BB; Pitching wise had 2.1 IP, 0R, 3K, 1BB)
3. Nichol (Offensively 1/2, with 2B and 1RBI; Pitching wise had 1.2IP, 3K, 3BB, 2R)

Preseason Home Opener

It has been 37 weeks since the 11U Legionnaires conquered their back-to-back Provincial Championship run, closing out another incredible season. Tonight will spark a new chapter of the Legionnaires Dynasty as they kick start their 2024 ball campaign. This preseason game will welcome the Mitchell Astros to town. This will be the Astros first game as well, in this early season contest.

Tonight Listowel’s roster will see eight veterans partake in the preseason game. These include returning provincial champions in Harrison and Williams, who will also lead the offense, batting in the one-two spots. Some other familiar faces in the line up include Nichol, Parkhouse, Neves, Zilliax, Riley, and Bradley. Finally, to close it out, three rookies in Frook, Adamson, and Donaldson will make their debut at the 11U level.

On the hill, Nichol will get the season start as he hopes to keep the Astros’ bats at bay, while the Legionnaires try to start off on the right foot. Game is at 6pm on Jacksonville Park (pending weather).

Your 2024 Regular Season Roster

After a month of Spring Training, tryouts, and of course April Showers the 11U coaching staff has selected the following 18 players to partake in the upcoming 2024 11U ICBA/OBA Regular Season.

• Alex Eby (2013)
  • Moorefield, Ontario
  • LY: 11U Arthur Twisters
• Brandt Donaldson (2014)
  • Listowel, Ontario
  • LY: 9U Listowel OBA
• Brendan Bradley (2013)
  • Palmerston, Ontario
  • LY: 11U Listowel ICBA
• Brennan Doig (2013)
  • Listowel, ONtario
  • LY: 11U Listowel WOBA
• Cooper Frook (2014)
  • Moorefield, Ontario
  • LY: 9U Listowel OBA
• Gray Parkhouse (2013)
  • Atwood, Ontario
  • LY: 11U Listowel ICBA
• Hudson Williams (2013)
  • Gowanstown, Ontario
  • LY: 11U Listowel OBA Champion
• Hunter Adamson (2014)
  • Listowel, Ontario
  • LY: 9U Listowel OBA
• Ian Magee (2014)
  • Listowel, Ontario
  • LY: 9U Listowel OBA
• Jaxson Stanley (2014)
  • Gowanstown, Ontario
  • LY: 9U Listowel OBA
• Kaden Neves (2013)
  • Listowel Ontario
  • LY: 11U Listowel ICBA
• Lewis Nichol (2013)
  • Listowel, Ontario
  • LY: 11U Listowel ICBA
• Luke Hurst (2013)
  • Palmerston, Ontario
  • LY: 11U Listowel WOBA
• Luke Strickler (2013)
  • Listowel, Ontario
  • LY: 11U Listowel ICBA
• Maddox Birk (2014)
  • Listowel, Ontario
  • LY: 9U Listowel OBA
• Maverick Riley (2013)
  • Belgrave, Ontario
  • LY: 11U Listowel ICBA
• Max Zilliax (2013)
  • Listowel, Ontario
  • LY: 11U Listowel ICBA
• Ripken Harrison (2013)
  • Atwood, Ontario
  • LY: 11U Listowel OBA Champion

Opening Week Schedule

As the 11U Coaching Staff works to narrow down the final few roster spots for the 2024 roster, we are proud to announce our opening week schedule.

Happy Easter Weekend

After two weekends of Spring Training and 30+ players out for an early start we have offically made it to Easter Weekend. The coaching staff wants to applaude all the players for their participation, enthusiasm, and even noticable growth through just two sessions (especially in their pitching).

Just a reminder their is no sessions during the Easter Weekend, and we will pick things back up the following Sunday on April 7th.

24 Hours until Spring Training

Tomorrow marks the start of Legionnaire 11U Spring Training. Players born in 2014 are invited to the 10U session starting at 11:00 am. While, the players born in 2013 are invited to the 11U session starting at 12:30 pm. The sessions will take place within the North Perth Westfield E.S. gymnasium and are free to registered players. Players are reminded to bring clean shoes, a ball glove, and a batting helmet.