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Richview first OFSAA
slo-pitch champs
The Etobicoke based school defeats Kingsville in the girls' gold game to finish 5-0
at the first ever provincial tournament for the sport held at Slo-Pitch City
June 14, 2023
By Rob J. Ross
DORCHESTER, Ont. - The first ever OFSAA championship for girls' slo-pitch goes to the Richview Saints from Etobicoke.
A four run first inning sent Richview on their way to a 13-2 win over Kingsville District, in the A final of the provincial high school two day tournament, June 12-13 at Slo-Pitch City in Dorchester.
Richview completes a 5-0 run including a 11-2 defeat of Cambridge St Benedict in the semifnals.
"I'm so happy I got to experience this before I graduated, the first OFSAA. This is really special," Richview captain and first baseman Ellie Grimes said. "It's really special because of all of the ninth graders we have on our team. They've never played high school slo-pitch before and I'm really happy they had this experience."
Laura Bach hit a two-run homer to put Richview up 6-0, after three innings.
Kingsville got on the board in the fourth inning, thanks to a Kaitlyn Berko two-run double.
Richview took command of the game with four more runs in the fifth, including a Emma Wang RBI single and Jonna Martin two-run single.
Tessa DiMatteo had a sixth inning RBI single and Jesslyn Bach, a seventh inning two-run double. Vivian Bach ended the game with a throw from left field to catch Kingsville attempting to score.
"I was thinking throw home because I saw the girl starting to round third, so was like I should probably throw home," Vivian said. "I threw it as hard as I could and luckily we have a very good catcher, Jonna (Martin), and she made an amazing play to end the game."
Vivian is one of the Grade nine players and one of three Bach sisters on the team, along with Laura and Jesslyn.
"I love our team this year so much," Vivian Bach said. "The seniors were such good leaders and I feel all the Grade nines learned so much from our leaders like Ellie, Tessa and Emma Horworth. It's an amazing experience and I'm really glad to be part of this team."
Richview won the Toronto West Region, before capturing the Toronto city championship, to advance to OFSAA.
Grimes, who will head west to the University of British Columbia this fall for Psychology, sensed great promise for the team on opening day.
"From the first minute of the first game, I knew we were going to be here and I knew we were going to do well," Grimes said. "After our first game, when everybody came out, everybody was cheering super loud. It wasn't just the skill set of our players on the starting line, it was the energy brought by our bench. The feeling the captains and I came out of the game with, is wow, this is a great team."
Cambridge St. Benedict took home the bronze medal, defeating Barrie St. Peter's, 10-7, highlighted by a two-run triple by Robyn Squires.
Stratford St. Mike's placed fifth overall, with a 4-1 record, mercying Brampton Cardinal Leger, 16-1, in the fifth place game.
Kyle Dalrymple delivered a two-out single as Exeter South Huron walked off Etobicoke Bishop Allen, 11-10, in the ninth place game. Two innings earlier, Ava Verner smacked a grand slam giving Bishop Allen a 10-8 lead.
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