“A dig deep, no quit attitude” was how Head Coach David Quon described his team’s effort at the recent U14 Girls Canadian Fast Pitch Championships held in Montreal from Aug. 15-19. The local squad followed up a successful provincial season with a gold medal performance to claim the Fusion program’s first national title.
The 2004 Fusion squad began their quest for a national title with a 4-1 record in the qualifying round against teams from B.C., Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Their only loss being at the hands of the Smitty’s Terminators from Manitoba. Outscoring their opponents by a combined margin of 45 runs resulted in a third place finish, securing a critical top four position going into the Championship playoffs.
The opening game of the playoffs pitted the Fusion team against the #2 seed from Ontario, the Waterloo Ghost Gold. The prospects for a win were quickly fading with Fusion trailing 5-3 at the top of the seventh inning. With two out, Maya Moreno singled. First baseman Jessica Heutink followed up with a double. Back-to-back walks to Siena Jones and Abby Bates would load the bases to score Moreno.
With an 0-2 count, shortstop Reilley Coghill singled on the next pitch to drive in two runs and regain the lead. Kayla White would add an insurance marker with a single scoring Abby Bates to cap a 7-5 comeback victory. Maya Moreno was the starting pitcher with Cassidy Affeldt pitching the final three innings in relief. Centre fielder, Kayla White, was the offensive spark going 3-for-4 at the plate.
Game two of the playoffs featured a re-match with the Smitty’s squad from Manitoba. In contrast to the first meeting that saw 17 runs scored, this contest turned into a pitcher’s duel with the Smitty’s and Fusion pitching staffs recording nine and 15 strikeouts, respectively. After spotting Manitoba an early 2-0 lead, the local team battled back to tie the game in the sixth inning.
Affeldt would double to score catcher, Rachel Boles. Jessica Heutink followed up with a double to score Affeldt. Unfortunately for the locals, the rally would come up short losing a heart breaker 3-2 in extra innings.
The loss to Manitoba dropped the Fusion down to the B-side final and a date with their provincial rivals, the Victoria Devils; the team that beat them for Gold at the B.C. championships in July.
As expected, this would prove out to be another tight affair with Victoria leading 2-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning.
Affeldt would lead off the inning with a single and advance to second on Heutink’s fielder’s choice. Then Moreno reached base on an error. Once again Reilley Coghill would come up clutch with a single to drive in two runs giving Fusion a 3-2 lead.
Before the inning was out, White would single in Coghill for an insurance run to secure a 4-2 win. Three Fusion pitchers (Maya Moreno, Jessica Heutink & Cassidy Affeldt) combined for 12 strikeouts in another quality showing by the Fusion pitching staff. Kate Dubois and Moreno with two hits each lead the Fusion offense.
The win over Victoria would set the stage for a third meeting with the top team from Manitoba to claim the national title.
Once again, Manitoba would jump out to an early lead scoring three runs in the second inning. However, this time the locals were not going to be denied victory and responded by scoring four runs at the top of the third inning eventually knocking Manitoba’s starting pitcher out of the game.
Heutink lead off the inning with single and reached second on a fielder’s choice. Second baseman Dubois would single to put runners on the corners. With two out, Boles singled to score Heutink.
Cassidy Affeldt would follow this up with an in the park home run, driving in three runs providing the Fusion with a 4-3 lead. From this point on the Fusion pitchers and defense were solid shutting down the Manitoba offense over the remaining five innings.
Maya Moreno was the winning pitcher with Jessica Heutink pitching three innings in relief.
The week also featured Fusion team members receiving several individual awards.
Prior to the start of the Championship playoffs, the qualifying round All Star selections were announced. The Fusion squad would receive three of the 10 selections; highest among all teams in attendance.
Catcher, Rachel Boles earned top batter honors with a .571 batting average/.600 on-base average. Also selected were teammates pitcher/shortstop, Cassidy Affeldt and centre fielder Kayla White. Affeldt would eventually go on to be named the Championship playoff MVP.
Team members represented the communities of Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission and Maple Ridge.
Representing Langley were: Jessica Heutink, Maya Moreno, Kayla White, head coach David Quon and assistant coach Laurie-May Quon.
