Barrie Red Sox

DETERMINATION PERSONIFIED - 11 year old captures OBA Player of the year honours. Every year the OBA recognises excellence in handing out a junior (Peewee and below) and senior player of the year award. This year’s junior player of the year had a year like none other – he had a year that would be difficult to duplicate and when you consider all that happened – you can only hope that it doesn't happen again. Cain Monaghan was named the OBA's junior player of the year and it was an amazing feat that he even took steps on a ball field, never mind return to play for the “AA” minor mosquito Southwest London Optimist Hurricanes. On August 3, 2004 Cain Monaghan suffered a debilitating brain aneurysm that would leave him in a wheelchair and unable to speak. Yet as the 2005 season rolled around Cain pushed himself to return. The following is an excerpt from Bob Elliott’s article in the Toronto Sun:

"We had to wait at the end of the month [Auguast 2004] for the blood to settle before surgery could be performed," his mother Cathy Monaghan said. Like John Olerud, stopped by the same unfair, life-altering blow, Monaghan's season was over. He went through a 10-hour surgery. Like Olerud, Monaghan battled back, digging in, determined as a hitter facing an 0-2 pitch with the bases loaded and two out, battling tougher obstacles than Olerud faced. Doctors didn't think Monaghan would play again. Yet, there he was in the 2005 season opener able to bat -- but not run the bases -- for coach Fred Blake's Hurricanes as they played North London. Roughly seven months before, the North London team had sent Cain an autographed ball and get-well-quick wishes. For Monaghan's courage Baseball Ontario gave the 11-year-old its junior player of the year honour at its annual general meeting in Toronto. The senior honours went to Grimsby's Kevin Long of the West Niagara Warriors. Greg Shillington, 21, of the London Southwest juniors, was presented the Ferguson Jenkins pitcher of the year award by the Hall of Famer himself. Shillington was impressive, going 11-1 with 106 strikeouts in 82 innings, but he didn't have to overcome the hurdles Monaghan did. After surgery, Monaghan wasn't able to speak and initially couldn't walk. He had re-programming to do after damage to his cerebellum. "One doctor compared it to entering a brand new forest, having to find a new path and make it into a superhighway," his mother said. Cain underwent therapy at Bloorview in Toronto for a few weeks and still goes for therapy a couple of times a week in London. Playing baseball was down the road. It was a goal, but first Cain had to re-learn to talk and walk. Gradually his balance returned, although he did wear a helmet in the field a la Olerud and initially he needed a pinch-runner upon reaching base. Gradually he improved and by the end of the season was the Hurricanes' third baseman. "Cain re-gained his co-ordination to hit and field, but balance was a problem when it came to pitching," his mom said. Next time you hear someone complain about a sprained ankle or a sore elbow costing them a start, tell them about Cain Monaghan's season. "It hasn't been until Cain won this award that you look back and sort of go: 'Wow!' It was scary at first," his mom says, "but he has been so amazing. "This put things into perspective."

If you did NOT play with the 2005 Red Sox and are interested in a tryout with the team for the 2006 season please send a tryout request for details. NOTE: As per YSBA policy from September 15 to October 31 there is an open tryout period and a release from your local centre is not required in order to practice, work out or tryout with another centre in the YSBA. Also note that this invitation is NOT open to players in other OBA Affiliate Associations the policy only applies to players within the boundaries of YSBA.

"All YSBA players are free to practice or tryout with any team within YSBA between the dates of September 15 and October 31 of the same calendar year, but they cannot sign a roster until properly released from the local association that holds the player's playing rights."

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1. - 2003 Ontario Championships 2. - 2004 Ontario Championships 3. - 2005 Ontario Championships 4. - 2006 Ontario Championships

Barrie Red Sox Minor Peewee Baseball 2005 YSBA Champions 2005 - The seasons most memorable moments. There were many, many highlights to the 2005 season. With the addition of Curtis, Adam M, Christian and Kyler the team most certainly improved and the boys showed it on the field where they reduced the total number of fielding errors by 33%! The boys proved they could play with the best in Ontario and defeated many of the top clubs in province during the 2005 campaign including the eventual “AAA” champs – Mississauga Tigers. In a shocker at the “AA” OBA finals it would be YSBA teams that would once again prevent the boys from capturing an OBA title. The boys played hard and always did their best and had many successes during the season. In 2005 the boys picked up the YSBA Championship title and they did it in a convincing fashion. At the top of their game in late June the boys captured the championship at the 16 team Vaughan International tournament, this was one of the strongest field of teams assembled for a tournament during the 2005 season. The boys showed well in every tournament they entered, capturing consolation titles in Barrie and Agincourt. What follows are the games that really highlight the boys at their best. Click on the links and reflect back on the heart stopping moments from the summer gone by. Here are the five most memorable games and moments that we got to see:

Honorable Mention 1: Barrie 14 - Newmarket 2. Dane goes yard and is the first to put a ball out at Lampman Honorable Mention 2: Barrie 14 - Oakville 4. The boys get off to a slow start in the Barrie Tournament but recover to finish strong against the 2005 OBA “AAA” semi-finalist. Highlight 5: Barrie 9 – Whitby 8. A sudden death late inning come from behind victory. Highlight 4: Barrie 6 – North York 6. More late inning heroics as the team refuses to get run over by the OBAs early season juggernaut. Highlight 3: Barrie 9 – Walker Homesites 4. The outcome of Game 1 of the OBAs could have been different had the boys not persevered. Highlight 2: Barrie 4 – Mississauga Tigers 1. The boys play some great ball and get the monkey off their back after another epic battle with the Tigers. Highlight 1: Barrie 6 – Mississauga Majors 1. The boys capture their first tournament of the season defeating many of the best teams in the province along the way.

2005 OBAs - Closing out the season at home. Congratulations to the champions: Mississauga Tigers - AAA Champs and the Cambridge Cubs - AA Champs. Barrie got off to a great start facing some exceptional pitching out of Windsor but the team would be eliminated in the 3rd round following disappointing back-to-back losses to YSBA rivals. The losses brought a great season of baseball to a close. The team continued to improve and make great progress. The OBAs featured some great clutching hitting during the Windsor game and some solid defensive play throughout. Here's how the boys did:

• Round 1 - Barrie 9 – Walker Homesites 4

• Round 2 - Vaughan 10 -Barrie 0

• Round 3 - Newmarket 2 - Barrie 1 (in 8 innings)

Tournaments Scarborough Invitational (August 24) The Barrie Red Sox travelled to Scarborough for a pre-OBA 4 team mini-tournament tune-up series with Whitby, Pickering and the host Stingers (Birchmount). The boys smashed out over 30 hits and compiled a 2-1 record in what was a great day of ball put on by our hosts:

• Game One: Barrie 7 - Pickering 5
• Game Two: Barrie 13 - Whitby "AAA" 3
• Game Three: Scarborough (Birchmount) 7 - Barrie 6

2005 YSBA Championships (August 16-18) The Barrie Red Sox took back the YSBA Championship title this past weekend and the team did it by compiling an impressive 5 and 1 record. The team appeared to get stronger as the tournment progressed:

• Round One: Barrie 8 - Richmond Hill 1
• Round Two: Barrie 7 - Newmarket 2
• Round Three: Aurora 8 - Barrie 3
• Round Four: Barrie 14 - Richmond Hill 7
• Round Five: Barrie 9 - Newmarket 1
• Round Six - Finale: Barrie 10 - Aurora 7

Barrie Tournament (July 22-24). Barrie road an emotional roller coaster this weekend as the play was very much up and down. After opening with a big win against North York II the Barrie bats fell silent and it seemed that the boys might even exit early from the tournament. The boys dug deep and came up some real clutch games. After being knocked off for the second time in a tournament semi-final by Whitby “AAA” the team did re-group and saved their best for last HITS – downing Oakville in the consolation final. In two consecutive tournaments the team has bouncing back from a semi-final loss to dominate in the consolation final. Here’s how it all went:

• Game 1: Barrie 10 - North York "AA" 0
• Game 2: Hamilton 7 - Barrie 2
• Game 3: Barrie 3 - Niagara Falls 3
• Game 4 - Semi Final: Whitby Chiefs “AAA” 9 - Barrie 1
• Game 5 - Consolation: Barrie 14 - Oakville 4

Agincourt Tournament (July 8-10). Barrie advances to the tournament semi-final but goes down to defeat in a very close game. The boys recover and go onto to mercy Newmarket to capture the Agincourt Tournament Consolation. The team struggled in their opening Friday night match but once again recovered and in the end achieved a 3-2 record. The tournament was an excellent learning opportunity and helped to highlight areas the team still needed to work on. Here’s how we did:

• Game 1: Kitchener A's 10 - Barrie 1
• Game 2: Barrie 9 - Ajax 6
• Game 3: Barrie 7 - East York 6
• Game 4 - Semi-Final Round: Whitby Chiefs “AAA” 4 - Barrie 2
• Game 5 - Consolation Final: Barrie 15 - Newmarket 1

Vaughan Tournament (17-19 June)Red Sox WIN Vaughan Tournament! Barrie battled against one of the strongest field of teams assembled for a tournament this season, winning the Vaughan Tournament while amassing a record of 5-1. Barrie was rocked their first game of the tournament and suffered their worst defeat of the season at the hands of a very solid Pickering team. Barrie regrouped and then turned it on during a three game grind on Saturday, knocking off three “AAA” teams. In succession, Barrie defeated North York, Burlington and Whitby. On Sunday in the semi-final the boys faced the Mississauga North Tigers, a perennial powerhouse team, and after a great baseball game moved on and defeated the Mississauga Majors in the tournament finale. In a very demanding 6 game run the Barrie Red Sox proved that they can play, and defeat, the best in Ontario. The boys played some outstanding defence in critical games and the pitching dominated on Sunday. At the plate Barrie's hitting depth and power began to emerge. Mississauga North Tigers went on to defeat Etobicoke for a second time in the tournament to win the consolation. Here’s how we did:

• Game 1: Pickering Red Sox 9 - Barrie 1
• Game 2: Barrie 10 - North York Blues “AAA” 3
• Game 3: Barrie 11 - Burlington Bulls “AAA” 4
• Game 4 - Elimination Round: Barrie 10 - Whitby Chiefs “AAA” 9
• Game 5 - Semi Final: Barrie 4 - Mississauga North Tigers 1
• Game 6 - Championship: Barrie 6 - Mississauga Majors 1

Burlington Tournament (3-5 June) Barrie battled hard on the weekend and despite playing 3 games in a day including a back-to-back finale with North York the boys ended up 1-1-1. During the tournament the team suffered their first loss of the season however the the boys can take some comfort in knowing that they were the only team to play the eventual tournament champs and not come up on the losing end. It was a very well organized as well as well run tournament and in the end North York defeated Pickering 6-5 in an 8-inning final. Here’s how we did:

• Game 1 Barrie 14 - Brantford Red Sox 2
• Game 2 Burlington Bulls “AAA” 5 - Barrie 2
• Game 3 Barrie 6 - North York Blues 6

Regular Season

2005 Minor Peewee Final Standings
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	PF	PA	PCT	GB
Newmarket Hawks	17	13	3	1	27	152	79	0.794	-
Barrie Red Sox	16	12	3	1	25	150	75	0.781	0.5
Markham Mariners	17	11	5	1	23	159	115	0.686	2
Aurora Jays	17	9	5	3	21	152	104	0.628	3
Vaughan Vikings	16	6	8	2	14	144	121	0.448	6
Georgina Bulldogs	16	6	10	0	12	108	122	0.385	7
Richmond Hill	17	4	13	0	8	72	135	0.245	9.5
Bolton Braves	16	1	15	0	2	56	242	0.063	12

Game One. The boys bring their bats to the season opener:
• Barrie 20 - Vaughan 10
Game Two. The boys look solid and take their home opener:
• Barrie 13 - Georgina 2
Game Three. Steady Defence and Solid Pitching:
• Barrie 10 - Newmarket 2
Game Four . Defence bends but it doesn't break:
• Barrie 13 - Richmond Hill 7
Game Five. The boys return to form - solid pitching and good hitting moves the boys to the top of the YSBA standings:
• Barrie 15 - Bolton 2

Game Six. Barrie rolls on winning 6th in a row to start the season. Not a great showing by the boys from Barrie, but they got the job done:
• Barrie 5 - Richmond Hill 3

Game Seven. Red Sox regular season win streak of 6 in a row was snapped by Newmarket:
• Newmarket 6 - Barrie 1

Game Eight. Red Sox struggle to find the plate and the team goes down in Aurora:
• Aurora 8 - Barrie 7

Game Nine. Red Sox return to form:
• Barrie 12 - Bolton 0

Game Ten. Barrie drops a suprising game to Markham:
• Markham 9 - Barrie 7

Game Eleven. Barrie takes Georgina:
• Barrie 4 - Georgina 2

Game Twelve. Barrie hangs on over Aurora and squeezes out a vctory in the final at-bat
• Barrie 9 - Aurora 8

Game Thirteen. Barrie rolls over Richmond Hill.
• Barrie 11 - Richmond Hill 1

Game Fourteen. Barrie pitching holds off Georgina.
• Barrie 8 - Georgina 4

Game Fifteen. Barrie and Newmarket duke it out for top spot.
• Barrie 6 - Newmarket 6

Game Sixteen. Barrie closed out the regular season on the road with a solid victory.
• Barrie 11 - Markham 5

Exhibition

Game One. The boys pitch great and play strong defence:
• Barrie 6 - Birchmount (Scarborough Stingers) 4

Game Two. The hitters were having it all their way:
• Barrie 7 - North York 7

Game Three. An awesome pitching duel:
• Barrie 2 - North York 0

Game Four. Dane goes YARD!
• Barrie 14 - Newmarket 2

Preseason 2005 Teams Here's the list of 8 teams that have confirmed entry into the YSBA Minor Peewee loop:

• Aurora
• Barrie
• Georgina
• Markham
• Newmarket
• R-Hill
• Vaughan
• Bolton

Victory in Vaughan Congratulations Here's the 2005 line-up:

• Christian B (welcome back in 2005)
• Colin B
• Graham D
• Branson F
• Dane G
• Dylan H
• Jacob H
• Curtis J (new in 2005)
• Kory K
• Adam M (new in 2005)
• Kyler N (new in 2005)
• Adam R

Congratulations goes to Mississauga Tigers on winning the 2005 "AAA" title with a come from behind, final inning rally, 4-3 victory over Etobicoke. Congratulations also goes to Cambridge Cubs who defeated Newmarket Hawks in a close final 8-7 to win the 2005 OBA Minor Peewee "AA" title. The following is how the 2005 "AA" draw and "AAA" draw went: 2005 "AA" Draw

Round 1
• Cambridge - Bye
• Mississauga North Bengals 6 – Niagara Falls 3
• Whitby 4 – Brampton 3
• Newmarket 7 - East York 1
• Barrie 9 – Walker Homesites 4
• Vaughan 4 – Toronto Greenwood 3
Round 2
• Niagara Falls - Bye
• Mississauga North Bengals 7 - Cambridge 5
• Whitby 12 – Newmarket 5
• Vaughan 10 -Barrie 0
• Walker Homesites 5 - Toronto Greenwood 3
• East York 6 - Brampton 5
Round 3
• Mississauga North Bengals - Bye
• Whitby 17 – Vaughan 5
• Niagara Falls 9 – East York 8
• Cambridge 11 - Walker Homesites 5
• Newmarket 2 - Barrie 1 (in 8 innings)
Round 4
• Mississauga North Bengals 9 – Whitby 8
• Cambridge 11 - Niagara Falls 2
• Newmarket 9 – Vaughan 3
Round 5
• Newmarket 9 – Mississauga North Bengals 0
• Cambridge 9 - Whitby 6
Round 6
• Newmarket - Bye
• Cambridge 10 Mississauga North Bengals 0
Round 7 - Championship
• Cambridge 8 - Newmarket 7

2005 "AAA" Draw

Round 1
• Mississauga Tiger 6 – Windsor Riverside 3
• Scarborough Stingers 7 – Mississauga Majors 2
• Oakville defeats Brampton
• Kitchener defeats Etobicoke
• Pickering defeats Walker Homesites
• North York defeats West Mountain
• Mississauga South West plays Guelph
Round 2
• Mississauga Tiger & Windsor Riverside - Bye
• Oakville 10 - Scarborough Stingers 6
• Mississauga Majors eliminates Brampton
• Kitchener defeats Pickering
• Etobicoke eliminates Walker Homesites
• North York defeats either Mississauga South West or Guelph
• West Mountain eliminates either Mississauga South West or Guelph
Round 3
• Mississauga South West or Guelph - Bye
• Mississauga Tigers 4 defeats Oakville 2
• Kitchener defeats North York
• Pickering 7 eliminates Scarborough Stingers 5
• Mississauga Majors eliminates Windsor Riverside
• Etobicoke eliminates Mississauga South West or Guelph
Round 4
• Etobicoke eliminates Mississauga Majors
• Oakville eliminates North York
• Pickering eliminates Mississauga South West or Guelph
• Mississauga Tigers 8 defeats Kitchener 5
Round 5
• Oakville - Bye
• Mississauga Tigers 7 eliminates Pickering 4
• Etobicoke eliminates Kitchener
Round 6
• Etobicoke - Bye
• Oakville 6 - Mississauga Tigers 2
Round 7
• Mississauga Tigers - Bye
• Etobicoke 5 eliminates Oakville 2
Round 8 - Championship
Mississauga Tigers 4 - Etobicoke 3