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p10 tribune july 14 1993 st stouffville merchants run out of luck at provincials photocella bronkhohst here it comes eleanor hollidge left of the newmarket lawn bowling club watches intently as anne jackson of the stouffville lawn bowling club tosses her ball during action in saturdays fred crossen memorial tournament at the stouffville lawn bowling club teams from newmarket willowdale markham uxbridge and stouffville took part in this event the stouffville merchants were stopped by a familiar nemesis and an old ally at the junior mens provincial eliminations championship tournament at north fredericksberg over the weekend the st catharines as who prevented the stouffville team from threepeatirig at the 1992 eliminations played here in town handed the merchants yet another heartbreaking loss to extend their hex barry ellerbeck who was recruited by the merchants for the 1990 and 91 canadian junior championships put on a flame throwing exhibition to send his old mates home empty handed after winning their first three games the merchants appeared to have made it four in a row in saturday nights game against st catharines with a 32 lead and two out in the last inning pitcher byron baranieski struck out what would have been the final batter of the game but the ball eluded catcher jason underwood and got caught in the screen behind home plate allowing the st catharines batter to scamper safely to first base the next hitter drove the first pitch for a gamewinning home run on sunday ellerbeck struck out 19 merchant batters as his kemptville team eliminated the stouffville squad from further competition with a 20 victory the merchants managed to load the bases with none out in the second inning but failed to capitalize ellerbeck and company went on to contest the tournament championship downing st catharines before losing to sebringville in the final sunday evening under a new ontario amateur softball association oasa arrangement both finalists are eligible to contest the canadian finals in summerside pei july 2329 the merchants opened up the weekend with a 21 win over smiths falls friday afternoon baranieski was masterful and second baseman rich burkholder made a half a dozen sparkling defensive plays to key the victory ryan maclntyre hammered a towering homerun to direct the merchants to a 71 triumph over caledonia later that evening darren crawford combined with baranieski on the pitching rubber the stouffville crew made it three straight with a 50 whitewash of peterborough saturday morning jamie showers picked up the games mvp award cracking a mammoth homer baranieski and crawford earned the shutout with ryan burkholder making a spectacular catch in left field to preserve the goose egg the merchants trailed st catharines 10 then 21 before gaining the lead in the game that eventually broke their hearts underwood was a perfect four for four at the plate while showers had a key hit as well merchants coach howard burkholder said it was a matter of lady luck turning her back on his team he felt his team would have gone on to the finals if st catharines hadnt made their miracle comeback weve had some good luck at this tournament through the years but luck went against us this time but thats the way it goes in this game i accept that i was really happy with the guys they played very well burkholder said he is thinking of entering the team in the international softball congress junior mens tournament inwisconsin july 29aug 1 the team will likely contest the ontario junior a championships in owen sound aug 1315 bonisteels bat sounds off margaret bonisteel belted a home run to help power fullertons place to a 2113 win over stouffville co op in recent tuesday night ladies softball league play karen lippett had a round tripper for coop in another game teresa drew belted a home run to ignite mariannes variety to a 1410 win over pink flamingo colley borland and vale managed to hold previously unbeaten white rogers to a 44 stalemate heres the scoop on whats hot and whats not in the world of sporting goods nine years after first setting up his little pro shop at the rec centre ian boyd is hanging tough amid hard times in his well stocked sporting goods store in stouffvi lies west end ian the affable entrepreneur with the i can do it approach to customer service is still smiling despite a couple of years that have not been so kind to some retailers and while hes not looking for this to be a record year hed like to believe the worst is behind us i dont think well see the type of growth in this store weve had in the past this year he told me when i dropped in to see what was new in sporting equipment the other day but anyone who can stay in business this year should be okay in another year the secret to ians success soon became clear as he fielded a phone call from a prospective bicycle customer in mississauga he set up an appointment agreeing to stay a half an hour after closing to accommodate the customer who has heard about the stouffville store through word of mouth ian told me how the higher end has fallen off in bike sales this year as people stick to the 300- 500 range in an effort to keep within their diminishing budgets but i anticipated that and i ordered accordingly he said and our kids bikes business has been great this year lots of stores dont bother with kids bikes because theres not much money in them but its the kids bikes that start your market and get people into the store for the first time ian attributes the local boom in bijke helmet sales partly to his trips to area schools pushing the importance of wearing the safety devices i dont care if they buy them from me he insisted i just tell them to be sure theyve got them baseball equipment sales are holding their own this season he cited with the establishment of the towns hardball program it has sport notes opened up a new market for him new trends include the switch from white to black baseball ball shoes mimicking some of the pro ball players as well as tackified or sticky leather baiting gloves louisville slugger tps aluminum bats are still the rage despite their 1 50 price tag apparently the ball just springs off the bat said ian based on the feedback hes received the mens slo pitch players love them however he reported the new composite carbon fibre bats which go for just under 200 are not getting the same rave reviews the worth red dot softball used far and wide by slopitch leagues in these parts may be on the way out ian told me apparently worth is doing away with their distributor in canada and is looking to distribute the balls directly from their headquarters in tennessee it sounds like a hassle to ian so he may have to switch to another ball ian has noticed a big increase in water ski sales so far this year a trend which began before the onset of summer hes even sold a few water ski boats at 30000 a pop and has a demo on display in the back of the store ian said the in line skate craze while still apparent has slowed a little at least in his store he reports however a modest interest in tennis and ball hockey equipment croquet gear and inflatables while he doesnt get into golf clubs and related accessories he is somewhat excited about a new line of refurbished golf balls that should be of interest to golfers looking to save a buck these name brand balls have been fished out of water holes at the better golf clubs in southern ontario if they are withouthacks or slices they are resprayed boxed by the dozen and sold for a little more than half the price of the same thing brand new with retailers always thinking ahead ian is anticipating a banner year for hockey equipment sales i see the best season ever for hockey equipment he enthused the reason he added has less to do with new advancements in state of the art gear than ever increasing interest in the sport a new reebok pump to be installed inside an existing name brand skate should generate some interest he predicted and as ian wheels a bike just brought in for repairs by a customer into the back room the phone rings and a young man comes in the door to pick up an order for a friend just another day at work for the man whom kids and adults alike have come to count on to keep them in the game 1 i j u mi jl 1 1 ft