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48 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2008 Bantam II Angels win Eastern Canadian title The Oakville bantam II Angels ran the table at last weekend's Eastern Canadian Championships in Nova Scotia, becoming the first local girls' softball team to win a national-level tournament. Oakville dominated its out-ofprovince competition, defeating the Cornwall (Prince Edward Island.) Cougars 10-2, the Kent (New Brunswick) Psychos 13-0, the Colchester (Nova Scotia) Gators 8-1 and the Lions du Lac St Louis (Quebec) 120. The stiffest tests for the Angels came from Ontario rivals Halton Hills and Napanee, both of whom had defeated the Angels in provincial playdowns earlier this summer. Oakville rallied from three runs down to beat Halton Hills 63 in opening-round play, then defeated Napanee 2-0 and 1-0 in the two-game final series. "We came out to easterns to prove ourselves, and I think we did that," said Oakville head coach Johanna Malisani. "I'm very proud of the work and effort (the players) put in all season. The gold is a reward for all that work." Malisani said she felt early on in the season that the Angels were capable of competing for an eastern Canadian title (the highest level teams can compete at in tier II), but it wasn't the team's main goal this year. "The objective for myself and the coaching staff was to give these kids a good season, win a few games, work hard together... at the end of the day, the results would come," she said. "We knew early on that we had the skill set there. As with most teams, it's can you create the team and have everyone working together to meet the group goals? We were fortunate enough that halfway through the season, everyone started to come together. The light bulb went on." Malisani said her players' ability to shake off any bad defensive innings gave the team a major advantage on most of its opponents. "For a bunch of 15- and 16-year-olds, they were very well-equipped to make an error and shake it off," she said. "We didn't let a bad inning get to us. We knew we'd pick away with the sticks and our pitchers would keep us in the games." Brittany Hole, Kayla Forbes and Kara Stirling handled the pitching duties for the Angels at nationals. Hole earned the victory in the decisive game, pitching five shutout innings, while Stirling earned the save. Nerissa Kinsman scored the winning run in the final, coming home on a wild pitch. Morgan Collin and Laura McVey closed out the game with solid infielding plays in the last inning. Forbes had arguably the biggest hit in the tournament for Oakville, clubbing a triple in the first game against Napanee to drive home the winning run. Other members of the team are Lauren Lyttle, Natalie Gingerich, Lauren Goacher, Morgan Collin and Nicole Cerpnjak. Mark Collin assisted Malisani, Janice McVey was the manager and Frank Cerpnjak was the team's scorekeeper. Michelle Marchiony left the team midway through the season when her family relocated, but was instrumental in helping the Angels qualify for the tournament, Malisani said. -- Jon Kuiperij EASTERN CANADIAN CHAMPS: The Oakville bantam Tier II Angels became the first local girls' softball team to win gold at a national-level tournament, claiming the title at the Eastern Canadian championships last weekend in Nova Scotia. All the small things cost sailor O Oakville Vytis Basketball Association Boys and Girls Rep BASKETBALL TRYOUTS Ages 8 ­ 19 Join the tradition... Experienced coaches with National and International level Basketball experience. 4 PROVINCIAL MEDALISTS IN 2008! Tryouts for 2008-09 season begin September 4th, 2008. For tryout dates and locations www.oakvillevytis.com skar Johansson and partner Kevin Stittle did a lot of things right during last week's Olympic sailing competition. But, after narrowly missing the podium with a fourth-place finish, Johansson admits he'll likely always remember the few things that the team could have done better. A few tactical errors, particularly in the sixth race of the 11-race regatta, proved costly for the local sailor and his partner. Johansson and Stittle placed last in the sixth race, 11th in the seventh and 12th in the eighth to fall well behind in the standings, and finishing the regatta with three second-place efforts was not enough to close the gap. "Like a lot of people who finish in fourth, you probably think about the racing more in detail than the people on the podium, all the `what if' scenarios," Johansson said. "Like any sport, at that level it's the little details that set people apart." Shortly after winning the fifth race Aug. 18, Johansson and Stittle were sitting second in the sixth race and feeling confident. Suddenly, the wind died and the fleet inverted, bumping the duo back to 11th spot. Then panic set in. "When you go from second to 11th on one leg and the people who were miles behind all of a sudden are ahead of you, it's emotionally very difficult," said Johansson, a product of the Oakville Yacht Squadron. "Had we been in a bit better mindset, or relaxed or patient, there was a pattern going. The Italians were patient and went to the right, and they got right back into the race." Rather than going right, Johansson and Stittle went wrong. They went left. "In the heat of the moment and under the stress, it's about making the right decisions. We'd been working on emotional management and stress management and balancing risks. There were a lot of great decisions we made, but we just didn't get them all right," Johansson said. "We pretty much had really good races, and then we had a couple ones that cost us some points and cost us the podium." Those few regrets aside, Johansson was pleased with how the team sailed. The Tornado sailors' fourth-place showing was the best among Canadian sailors, and they were legitimate medal contenders -- something Johansson and thenpartner John Curtis weren't in Athens four years ago. "It was really nice to go into the Olympics racing for a medal. That was the intention at the onset of this campaign," Johansson said, "to be at a level to be sailing for that gold. Had those little (gambles) worked out, we would have won, and it's nice to know we could have been there. It was just those few little mistakes here and there that cost us, and I think that's experience." Unfortunately for Johansson and Stittle, that experience may have come a little too late. Tornado competition will likely be discontinued at the 2012 Games in London, although there has been lobbying to keep the class as an Olympic sport. That means Johansson is now at a crossroads in his life. The 31-year-old is getting married next weekend to Crystal Bretschger, is hoping to start a family in the near future, and realizes he probably wouldn't be able to challenge for a medal at the next Olympics if he were to change sailing classes. There are also financial considerations. Not only does sailing all over the world cost money, it also costs the Queen's University engineering grad potential income. "Considering the earning potential I have with my degree, and peers with similar degrees and similar marks making six-figure salaries right now, the comfort level in life has really changed," Johansson said. "That gap makes it hard to keep going and give up the time when See Johansson page 51