RANT N' ROAR - DAY FIVE
TEAM NL BASEBALL PLAYERS ATTEND ROOKIE GAME TO SUPPORT BATBOY DRYDEN "BOCCO" BOCCHINFUSO
Team Newfoundland and Labrador’s baseball team enjoyed an evening of down time before they were back on the field to play Team Prince Edward Island in their consolation game Friday at Oakes Park.
Team NL players made time to get out to the park to support their batboy, Dryden "Bocco" Bocchinfuso, along with Team Ontario and Team Manitoba players who were also on site for the game. Bocco has been with the team since the start of the 2022 Canada Games, and will definitely be missed when the team travels back home.
One of the other batboy’s, Markus Allen, who has also been serving as a batboy for the Canada Summer Games has a Newfoundland blood in his veins. Markus’ great-grandfather was born there. Rick Allen, Markus’s grandfather reached out to Team NL to say thanks to the team.
“Thank you to the Newfoundland men's baseball team for the support they gave my grandson MARKUS ALLEN.” During the game, Markus “drove in the game tying run with a double to LF, and your players made a little 8-year-old feel like a star tonight.”
Chef's Corner
Yesterday at the Niagara Canada Summer Games, Team NL female Rugby 7s and Softball athletes finished their competition at the Canada Games late yesterday. It was a perfect evening for me to take in a Team NL Softball game at Southward Community Park to see them play against Team Nova Scotia. It was an edgy, exciting game to watch.
I had the opportunity to visit my second soccer game to see our male soccer players take to the field against Nova Scotia. I was impressed with some of the plays they made and they played a great game, but couldn’t pull off a win. I also had the opportunity to visit Welland Tennis Club to see Team NL tennis on the courts for the first time this week. It was an exciting match to watch, especially Liam Drover- Mattinen’s.
As we enter day six of the Games, I am excited to visit the Mountain bike team to see their sprint event at Twelve Mile Creek. There will be a presentation on behalf of all the P/T's to show appreciation to the local volunteers who built the course.
Triathlon athletes compete in supersprint finals
Three of Team NL’s triathletes toed the line this morning at Welland International Flatwater Centre for the Supersprint race. Everyone put together strong efforts on the shorter course, with Heidi finishing in 18th, Grace 23rd, and Alex 27th.
Team NL Triathlon athletes are looking forward to competing in the mixed final Mixed Team Relay Race tomorrow afternoon.
Soccer (Men) battles hard
Team NL Male Soccer faced Nova Scotia this morning at Youngs Sportsplex in the Qualification Round. The keeper Bradon Harvey had an incredible save in the last minute of the first half.
The score at half was 0-0. The boys continued to battle hard until the last minutes with Nova Scotia scoring their first goal at the 73rd minute. The final score was 1-0 for Nova Scotia.
They will compete again tomorrow.
Basketball (Female)
Another win for our Women’s Basketball Team today as they defeated Team Yukon by a score of 93-29, improving their record to 2-2. Serena Phillips was 6-6 from the two-point field goal line and five players were in double figures in points.
Our team will finish up their Games competition tomorrow at 3:15 pm vs. Team Prince Edward Island at Niagara College as they battle for 9th place.
Tennis team gave valiant effort
Team NL Tennis gave a valiant effort against the gold medal favourites Quebec today losing 4-2 in a battle.
Aiden Drover-Mattinen took his singles match 6-2, 6-4 while his brother and national champion Liam Drover-Mattinen took out his opponent. 7-5,6-3. Our ladies singles No.1 player Jasmine Rahman gave Annabelle Xu everything she could handle, along 6-2,6-3 to the Junior Wimbledon player from Canada. Mens and women’s doubles fell hard getting outmatched.
Team NL has risen to the occasion in tennis at these games and have given everyone they’ve played a tough time. The team’s record is now 3-1 and will hit the courts again Friday.
Beach Volleyball has bluebird day
Team NL had a bluebird day at Niagara Place for both teams to play two games a piece. In the qualifying round this morning both teams dropped tough 0-2 losses against SK to determine consolation games this afternoon. Alyssa and Alex logged a 2-0 win over YT to bring our girls to a 4-1 record so far on the tournament. Mark and Isaac put in a big effort on the feature court but ended with a 0-2 score against Team Northwest Territories.
Both teams will be back on the court Friday afternoon to play for final rankings.
Basketball (Female) has another win
Another win for our Women’s Basketball Team today as they defeated Team Yukon by a score of 93-29, improving their record to 2-2.
Serena Phillips was 6-6 from the two-point field goal line and five players were in double figures in points. Our team will finish up their Games competition tomorrow at 3:15 pm versus Team Prince Edward Island at Niagara College as they battle for 9th place.
Rugby 7s take in niagara region
After finishing their tournament yesterday, the Rugby 7s team had a late wake-up call and then took in the Niagara region.
Tonight, they're supporting the TeamNL Men's Basketball team along with many other of their TeamNL teammates. Supporting other teams is a big part of the Games, and the girls are excited to be able to be at the game.
Mountain Bikers have training day
The Men’s XC Mountain Bikers, Carter Stratton, Brandon Seaward, Braeden Peddle, for Team NL had an XC Sprints Training day today at Twelve Mile Creek.
This was the last MTB event of the Games. They practiced on a shorter course where everyone does a time trial in order to be seeded into the sprint races. After training, the boys joined the Canada Games MTB course designer for a group ride.
Basketball (Male)
It was a full house at the Niagara College gym for Team NL versus Team Ontario. They had a hard fought game against an athletic Ontario team. There was great crowd support in the stands at Niagara College - Welland Campus.
Both Cam Stanford and Mark Tobin had 19 points while Adam Goulding contributed with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. The final score was ON 99 - NL 71.
Special thanks to our NL Team (rugby, softball, women's basketball, baseball, triathlon and soccer) for making the effort to come out and support our men.
Congratulations to out men team for a fine performance. They will take to the court again tomorrow, August 12th at 1 pm at Niagara College Welland Campus.