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| MIKE RAWN, GUELPH MERCURY |
| The Markham Jaguars celebrate following their 8-0 win over Chinguacousy yesterday in the Canadian midget girls' fastball championship game at Exhibition Park. The Jaguars lost just once at the weeklong tournament. |
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After blowing through the opposition all week, it was only fitting that the Markham Jaguars cut short yesterday's gold medal game at the Canadian midget girls' fastball championship.
Markham defeated the Chinguacousy Cougars 8-0 in five innings, scoring one more run than was needed for the mercy rule to end the game early.
After losing their opening game 1-0 against Quebec, Markham stormed through the weeklong tournament, posting five shutouts in their final seven games.
"It's a well known fact that our ball club has been based around pitching and defence," Markham coach Pat Acton said.
"We just know that hitting isn't a constant. It will come and go. We scored 15 and 11 runs early in the tournament and the next game was 2-1.
"But we worked continuously on our pitching and defence, starting indoors in February and March. Once we got outside we continued to do drill after drill on defence."
Markham starter Jenna Caira, who was voted MVP of the tournament, struck out 11 in recording her third straight playoff win. The Jaguars scored the only run they would need in the first inning on a solo home run by Aileen Trenbeth.
They added three more runs in the second and one in the third inning before Jaguars catcher Lisa Brooks provided the final blow with a three-run home run in the fourth.
"I didn't want to disappoint my team," Caira said. "I knew we could do it and we all pulled through.
"It was an 11-month commitment. And it was all worth it. All the hard work. Our coaches are all amazing, their commitment to our team is great. We've never had better coaches."
Chinguacousy earned a berth in the championship game with a 4-3 win over British Columbia's Delta Heat Boily in a morning semifinal.
They loaded the bases against Caira in the second inning, but the Jaguars righty got out of that jam and was never threatened again.
"I think they just ran out of gas a little bit," Chinguacousy coach Dave Murray said about his team. "They faced a fairly tough team that was on a roll, and one helluva pitcher that had a dominating week as well.
"She's tough," Murray said about Caira. "She hits her spots and she's got that changeup working good now. She's pretty dominating."
Although it was the first time a Markham team has won the midget girls' national championship since 1982, many from this year's team had won three straight nationals, including back-to-back bantam titles.
It was the eighth time that the Jaguars had played Chinguacousy this season, but the provincial champion-Cougars couldn't come up with timely hits this time around.
"There were no surprises," Murray said about playing Markham. "The girls knew what they were facing."