Due to the potential issue to limited stock, I am going to pre-order some cage jackets this weekend… any interest? Price is still to be determined, but it should be a much more appealing price than last years. If interested please email me: kylehollinger5@hotmail.com.
Just a reminder, Listowel Minor Baseball Registration is only open until March 17th. Follow the link to sign up today…
https://listowelminorbaseball.ca/Articles/5203/2024_Registration_is_open_
Via some inside sources, as of this morning (Jan. 21st) Listowel Minor Baseball has been approved to host yet again the 11U “C” Provincial Championships. This means that 12 teams from all over Ontario will make the trip to Listowel during the 2024 and 2025 Labor Day Weekends, in hopes of a Provincial Banner.
The Legionnaires “L” has always been a staple in the Listowel community during the summer months for as far back as anyone can remember. This includes the 90’s when coach Kyle was a little blonde-haired boy attempting to throw the ball across the diamond. When it comes to on the diamond, Listowel Minor Baseball has always been a strong anchor within Western Ontario and at times been a benchmark for other nearby centers. Coach Hollinger still remembers his first year coaching as a 19-year-old teen when the registration numbers for 11U (Mosquito) were barely enough to field two teams. Jump forward to the mid-2010’s when the 11U registration sky-rocketed to 50+ keen young ball players, thanks to the Jays success. Ever since then, Listowel has been on a “dynasty-esh” run.
Over the past seven seasons, exempting the COVID year, the Listowel 11U OBA Program has put some pretty incredible teams on the field. Collectively they have gone 224-62-3, which results in a 78% win percentage. This includes going to the Provincial “C” Finals in five of those seasons and winning four of the five times (2017, 2019, 2022, 2023). Three of these years, the championship came without losing a game at the Provincial Tournament, and two of these championships came by way of mercy. Also worth noting includes the Legionnaires success in the ICBA. During these years, Listowel has also won two ICBA Tier 2 Championships, which is against “A” centers from the Tri-City area. Needless to say, these past seven years a lot of hardware has been brought back to Perth County and the Listowel “L” has been represented proudly.
In the end, I think it is safe to say that Listowel Minor Ball has generated or carried a level of excellence during the past decade within its 11U program, but as of recently this standard has been incredible, successful, and maintained. Not that winning is everything, but the dedication and joy these players have played with over the years and continued to come back speaks for itself. A huge shout out to all the players, coaches, and parents who have dedicated their summer months to evenings at the ball diamond and to all the endless hours put in at home playing catch, swinging a bat, and learning to pitch.
Enjoy the off-season as we look forward to seeing everyone next summer wearing the “L” proudly… and who knows maybe we can three-peat for the first time.
Last weekend, the 11U Legionnaires got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as they traveled to Toronto. In Toronto they not only got to watch an incredible ball game as the Jays walked off the Red Sox in the ninth, but they actually got to meet some Blue Jays players before the game. With their “field passes” in hand they got to be face-to-face with the likes of Nate Pearson, Tim Mayza, Kevin Gausman, Davis Schnieder, Chris Bassitt, Jamie Campbell, Buck Martinez, and even Bo Bichette.
Something that made this team different than most years was truly the depth. From pitching to batting to general athleticism this team proved challenging throughout its order and no matter the situation. In doing so, 10 different players found their way onto the “All-Time Leader” lists. What a group…
Oliver Morwood
Another incredible year for Morwood as once again he demonstrated an ability to be a consistent and professional hitter. For the majority of the year, he batted in the number one spot in hopes of getting on base for his team and frequently setting the tone for the rest of the Legionnaires’ batting order. I think it is safe to say, “mission accomplished” as for the second straight year he posted a batting average north of 0.630, putting him 3rd on the all-time list. He also set a new record for an OBP with 0.728 beating his own record set from last year. This comes at the hands of some incredible plate awareness and patience. Another all-time list he cracked included the all-time Total Hits, sneaking onto the list with 70 hits, and into 9th. He also was one of our most heavily used arms on the mound throughout the year, and all said and done, he posted a very impressive 3.27 ERA ranking him slightly behind Walls from last year’s championship team. Well done Olie, it was a pleasure!
Patrick Heenan
With some incredible athleticism, Heenan was a notable presence both at the plate and on the mound. At the plate, he surely found his form for the provincial championships, as he recorded more hits than any other player with 11, and a 0.733 AVG over the weekend. This bumped him into 11th place on the all-time list of “Total Hits” with 68, just two shy of team leader Morwood. On the mound, he always carried an aces demeanor and was put in some tough scenarios. These included the Kincardine tournament quarter-finals against the OBA “D” Champions from Saugeen, the final two innings of the regular season when they were bidding for the top seed, and in the relief role for the championship game of OBAs. With some incredible outings, he punched his ticket into 9th in the all-time ERA list with a 3.71 ERA.
Tucker Frook
Fresh off of a championship win where Frook took away the “W”, he also put this name into the record books with a very impressive 1.17 WHIP. This was enough to get him tied for 3rd on the all-time list as he maneuvered his way through 25 innings pitched, including some high-stress situations, much like Heenan. Noting this was enough to bump him ahead of his brother’s numbers posted from the 2019 championship team.
Myles Love
In his first year with Listowel, Love definitely made an impression, especially on the rubber. Coming off of an incredible semifinals, 6 inning, victory, Love has also found his way into the records in various pitching categories. His ability to throw hard and consistent strikes with the odd change of speed truly kept batters off balance and needing to be ready to swing the bat. This allowed him to break into the top five of both ERA and WHIP all-time lists through his 27 innings pitched. His long outings and consistent strikes also allowed him to creep into the pitches/inning list averaging less than 15 pitches per inning.
Sam Kraal
With a unique pitching release that gets on top of the batter quickly, Kraal managed to get his name onto the all-time list in three different pitching categories. He was always relied upon to throw strikes and in doing so, put up some exceptional numbers during his 30-plus innings pitched. His highest rank came in his team-leading pitches per inning numbers of 14.24, placing him at 6th on the all-time list.
Wade Van Allen and Ripken Harrison
How can you go wrong with an infielder that throws strikes in 11U baseball? With incredibly (and oddly) similar numbers, Van Allen and Harrison both pitched 16-plus innings throughout the season allowing 18 hits and 10 walks each. Not record worthy, but what was, was their ability to simply throw strikes no matter the situation. Pitching for contact is a great trait to have in youth baseball and both easily filled that criteria by posting sub-15 pitches/inning numbers.
Gray Parkhouse
In his first year of live pitching, Parkhouse proved a determination to simply throw strikes. His change of speed and consistency made him a secret weapon in the bullpen to shake things up. In doing so, he pencilled his name into the all-time list recording a 1.20 WHIP and enough to get him into 7th on the all-time list.
Game Played Leaders:
With a return back to ICBA, and making the finals in every tournament they partook in, comes a lot of commitment and baseball over the course of 4+ months. This year, the coaching staff also decided to reward some second-year players with a larger “core” throughout the season. This panned out to numerous players making the all-time games played list, while also having more than 120 at-bats. These players included;
What an incredible year it was, with some remarkable accomplishments along the way. The year started with 25+ young players participating in some indoor spring training sessions. This then transitioned into rain days and canceled tryouts during the final few weeks of April and early May. Eventually, 19 players were offered a spot to partake in the 2023 regular season. The season kick-started with a home-loaded schedule as the Legionnaires had eight home games throughout their first ten games. Over this span, Listowel went an impressive 9-1. The winning ways continued as the rest of June included a Hamilton/Ancaster road trip and a tournament victory in Ingersoll. This helped anchor a 15-game winning streak. Switching to July, the summer month definitely saw some ups and downs, as the team continued to find ways to win, but also had some WOBA curses as they dropped a couple of games to WOBA OBA teams. In some very tight games, Listowel eventually proved some dominance within WOBA with yet another tournament victory in Kincardine. Next, Listowel switched their attention to ICBA as they needed to win one of their final two games to finish atop the league, but unfortunately in some heartbreaking fashion the Legionnaires dropped both games to Kitchener, including a walk off in the seventh. This set Listowel into the number two seed heading into playoffs. Listowel’s coaching staff then had some tough decisions as they finalized their selections for the final month of baseball. In proud fashion and a drive to be better, this resulted in another 15-game winning streak and two tournament victories (ICBA and OBA). The rest is marked in history as banners and hats were rewarded on the backs of some incredible deep pitching depth and some finally explosive hitting.
With success, also comes some very impressive team and individual statistics:
In the end, it was one heck of a year. Each and every player should be proud in their contribution to an incredible 46 win season and provincial championship.
With success comes some pretty remarkable numbers from this past weekend.
What an incredible way to finish the ball season with such a great group of kids, ball players, and families. For the second straight year, Listowel was given the opportunity to host a provincial tournament for their 11U program, and for the second straight year, the young Legionnaires came away Champions.
The action started Friday evening with the Legionnaires taking on the Chatham Diamonds and in dominant fashion they came away victorious 16-0. This was on the backs of some impressive offense and rock-solid pitching by Kaye.
The next afternoon, after receiving a bye, the Legionnaires were matched up against the Tillsonburg Otters. Listowel’s offense continued to roll as they set the tone early with a max run inning in the first. However, the Otters matched it with their own max inning in the 3rd. This put the game at 6-5 heading to the 4th. With some nervousness coming from the Legionnaires’ side, the young Listowel squad answered in a hurry, posting four runs in the 4th and another three in the 5th. This helped ease Listowel to another victory by mercy 14-5 and in dramatic fashion with a solo home run by Frook to walk it off.
Next up, Listowel found their way into the undefeated game, up against a tough squad from Grimsby. In hopes of keeping the Listowel train rolling, the Legionnaires sent Ellison to the mound. By going an impressive four-innings, Ellison stifled the Coyotes bats, recording 7 strike-outs of 12 outs, and only giving up a single hit. Offensively, Listowel was at it again posting runs in four of the six innings and recording 9 hits. This once again anchored Listowel to a 12-2 victory and punching their ticket into Sunday without a loss.
Early Sunday morning Listowel took the field after drawing Lakeshore. The Legionnaires once again jumped out to an early lead (3-0) thanks to some walks and back-to-back hits by Kraal and Kaye. After a quick response by Lakeshore, to cut Listowel’s lead to one, the Legionnaires rallied again (and again) as they continued to put runs up scoring in every inning, with the exception of the 3rd. As teams were quickly finding out this offensive explosion was hard to keep up with as for the fourth straight game Listowel won by mercy, winning 13-4. As good as the offense was all weekend and throughout the semi-final match-up, the star of the game went to an incredible showing by Love who pitched all 6 innings for Listowel. Love maneuvered his way through a tough line-up, especially after giving up a two-run home run in the first. “Great Job Myles!”
Que the Finals! With locals gathering and an excitement in the air, this young squad from Listowel set to the field one more time as a team in hopes to capture that provincial title. This match-up was a rematch of yesterday’s undefeated game against the Grimsby Coyotes, who snuck a one-run win out over Stratford in their semi. Anyways, as the game got underway, much like all weekend, Listowel’s offense set the tone early with a quick four-run first, courtesy of a clutch two-out single by Padfield. On the defensive side, Listowel used veteran Frook on the mound. Frook managed his way through four solid innings, limiting the damage as the Coyotes left runners stranded in three of the four innings. Listowel’s offense managed to get back on the board again in the third with three more runs. Grimsby did manage to chip away at the Listowel lead with single runs in the first, third, and fourth. However, Listowel’s ace, in Heenan, came in for some relief following Frook and pitched a near-perfect three innings, only giving up a single hit and striking out six. This eventually sent Listowel into a much-deserved celebration with a 7-3 victory.
After an amazing season, and some incredible growth and determination by this young Legionnaires squad, they finally reached their potential and captured that dreamed of provincial championship. This weekend truly showed the comradery of this team as from a coach’s perspective it just felt like a bunch of close friends playing a game they loved. Great Job Gentleman … enjoy it! Also, a special thanks goes out to everyone that made this weekend possible from umpires, convenors, volunteers, parents, and to those that came out to support. – THANK YOU!
Team Members include; Morwood, Heenan, Love, Ellison, Kaye, Kraal, Ottens, Williams, Van Allen, Harrison, Padfield, and Frook.
Listowel "11U" Legionnaires 