Ravens starting playoff prep early
The Essex Ravens got an early jump on playoff preparation on Sunday.
Essex was supposed to close out the regular season in the Ontario Provincial Football League with a road game against the Durham Dolphins, but instead scored a 6-0 forfeit victory with the opposition unsure if it would be able to dress the league-minimum 27 players.
Instead of suiting up for a game, the Ravens used the opportunity to hit the practice field and prepare for the playoffs. The forfeit win gave Essex fourth place in the West Division with a 5-3 record, and the club head out to face firstplace London (8-0) in a division semifinal on Saturday at TD Waterhouse Stadium.
All three Essex teams qualified for the playoffs with the junior varsity team finishing with the best record in the West Division at 7-1 and the bantam club advancing with a second-place finish in the West Division with a 5-3 record.
GREEN GIANTS WIN
The St. Clair Green Giants hit the all-star break on a winning note with 12-6 win over the Irish Hills Leprechauns on Saturday in Great Lakes Collegiate Baseball League action at Lacasse Park.
The Green Giants (18-13) scored nine runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to open a 10-3 lead against the Leprechauns (11-21).
Green Giants right-hander Tyler Whitbread, who is headed to the all-star game, went six innings to pick up the win and improve to 4-1 on the season.
St. Clair shortstop Conor Mckenna, who is also going to the all-star game, led the Green Giants’ 14-hit attack with three hits and scored two runs. Roberto Duncan, Matthew Deneau, Max Ayarza and Jesse Gonzales each added two hits while Adam Tanoue drove in a pair of runs.
TFC STARS SPLIT
The Windsor TFC Stars split a pair of League1 Ontario men’s soccer games on the weekend.
It was a season-high in offence for the TFC Stars on Saturday in a 6-1 win over Aurora FC, but playing back-to-back games the Stars were blanked 1-0 by Ottawa South United on Sunday in Woodbridge.
Noah Pio scored four goals for Windsor in Saturday’s win while elder brother Michael Pio had the other two. Sunday’s loss left the TFC Stars with a 4-5-4 record on the season for fifth place in the West Division.
ROGUES BEST BARBARIANS
The Windsor Rogues scored a 31-18 win over the Bruce County Barbarians in Niagara Ruby Union Men’s B Division play on Saturday in Tiverton.
The Rogues got tries from Craig Weir, Jake Johansson, Ben Magri, Jacey Silvaggi and Gord Sykstus, who also added three conversions. Weir was named player of the match for Windsor.
LAWN BOWLING TOURNAMENT
Dennis Rawlins, Phyllis Leopold and Marylou Demers teamed up to capture the Peter Stock Memorial Tournament on Saturday at the Windsor Lawn Bowling Club.
The team of Ted Krigel, Wayne Strudweick and Iain Clemerson placed second while Alfie Fairweather, AnnaMay Shpuniarsky and Jeannette Quenneville teamed up to finish third.