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Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, 2006 33 Women's ball tryout at Frozen Ropes By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER NATIONAL TEAM HOPEFUL: Burlington's Samantha Magalas will be one of the players auditioning for a spot on the Canadian women's baseball team when the squad holds an open tryout next week at the Frozen Ropes baseball training centre in Oakville. When Samantha Magalas walked into her first national team tryout, she didn't have to worry about trying to wrestle a spot away from a veteran player. The Burlington resident was a pioneer, one of the players trying out for Canada's first national women's baseball team in 2004. After some initial indoor workouts in the winter, Magalas and 39 other players were invited to Montreal for a final selection camp at Olympic Stadium. "It was kind of scary," she said. "I had been playing for a long time and we were all hoping there would be a Team Canada one day. When we went for tryouts, it was all new coaches and nobody knew anyone else so we all started off the same. But it was definitely nerveracking." Magalas is now a veteran of two Women's World Cups and the owner of a pair of bronze medals from the event. While she feels that may give her an edge heading into next week's open tryout at Frozen Ropes in Oakville, she isn't taking anything for granted. "The coaches have seen us in game situations and have had ample opportunity to see us play in pressure situations,"the 24-year-old said. "But you never know, there could be some top notch player coming in to steal your spot so you've got to be on your toes. No one is being given a spot." At least Magalas will have home-field advantage. She has worked at Frozen Ropes as a baseball and softball instructor for a year and she'll be staying after work in preparation for the Jan. 12 tryout. Frozen Ropes will also host a couple of workouts prior to the national team tryout, Monday, Jan. 8 and Wednesday Jan. 10 from 7-10 p.m. "It's a matter of keeping your arm loose, getting in the cage and doing some tee work, hitting some balls, taking some grounders and, of course, physical conditioning," Magalas said of her own preparations for the tryout. National team an opportunity for females For female players, baseball doesn't have the same opportunities as softball, such as college scholarships, but the national team gives Canadian female players something to work toward. Though the national team didn't exist when Magalas was growing up she found a role model in Julie Croteau, a Virginia player who became the first woman to play NCAA baseball, playing for the St. Mary's College Seahawks. Magalas played against Croteau at the first Women's World Cup and followed in her footsteps, playing for York University's men's team. Croteau, who now coaches the American women's team, sent Magalas a congratulatory e-mail when she made the York team. Magalas hopes to pass on what she has learned to a new generation of players. She will be conducting a 10-week girls baseball program at Frozen Ropes each Tuesday, beginning Jan. 16. In addition to focusing on baseball skills such as throwing, hitting, pitching and baserunning, the program will also focus on nutrition, mental preparation and vision training. "It's a program to improve the level of your game and hopefully help grow the game," said Magalas, who can be contacted at coachsam@frozenropescanada.ca. Atom red Lumberjacks fare well at Bell Capital Cup Competing in the largest hockey tournament in the world, the Oakville atom red Lumberjacks won their first three games en route to an appearance in the quarter-finals at the recent Bell Capital Cup in Ottawa. The Lumberjacks defeated the Leitrum Hawks 3-1, Nepean 6-0 and Carleton Place Bulldogs 4-0 in roundrobin play, then tested the Beijing (China) Cubs in a 2-0 loss in the quarter-finals. Beijing broke a scoreless tie with five minutes remaining in regulation. "The team played extremely well and had a great deal of fun," coach Dwayne Clarke said. Michael Finlay earned a pair of shutouts for the Lumberjacks during the tournament, while Michael Trupiano tied for third place in tournament scoring (seven points) among the 36 teams participating in the Atom House A Division. Also earning points for Oakville were Alexander Lamont (five goals, one assist), Oliver Green (three goals, one assist), Dylan Lewis (one goal, three assists), Joe Modzelewski (one goal, two assists), Graeme Cornell (one goal, one assist) and Spencer Clarke (two assists). Also contributing to the team's successful weekend were Zachery Osgarby, David MacBride, Joshua Carlan, Stefan Antonakos and Brandon Smyk. The Bell Capital Cup drew 510 teams from across the world, setting a new Guinness World Record for number of teams in a hockey tournament. CAPITAL GAINS: The Oakville atom red Lumberjacks were quarter-finalists at the recent Bell Capital Cup.