Boehmer, McCartney, Roberts, Deline win ICBA honours
* Brantford’s Corey Boehmer was named the top senior pitcher and Guelph’s Troy McCartney took senior player honours, while Stratford Indians Riley Deline won the youth player and Noah Roberts of the Cambridge Cubs the youth pitcher honours. .... .
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By Bob Elliott
CAMBRIDGE _ Riley Deline was asked the best and worst game he ever had this summer?
“The worst was a home game against Waterloo,” said the Stratford Indian peewee. “I pitched two innings walked four and struck out for the only time all season.”
And who won the game?
“Not us,” said Deline after being presented the Inter County Baseball Association youth player of the year honour at the Cambridge Golf and Country Club.
And his best game?
“I pitched six innings struck out five, allowed one run and left with an 11-1 lead against Kawartha,” he said.
While Deline won the youth player, Noah Roberts of the Cambridge Cubs took the youth pitcher honours.
Brantford’s Corey Boehmer was named the top senior pitcher and Guelph’s Troy McCartney took senior player honours.
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Brantford Trans-Frt McNamara lefty Boehmer (Paris) had a 6-3 record with one save and a 2.44 ERA helping his team win the OBA midget Bs over Brampton, a team bolstered with the addition of Toronto Mets RHP Zach Pop.
Boehmer walked 32 and struck out 51 winning the David W. Steele Memorial midget pitcher of the year. He pitched for coach Scott Chapman, who was helped by his father, Ted Chapman, Charles Longeway, Dave Willetts, Chad Muise and Tanner Guindon.
Hosting the OBAs Brantford opened with 4-3 win over Brampton, a 14-4 decision against East York, a 5-4 triumph against York, a 5-4 victory facing London Tecumseh and 20-8 win over Windsor’s Walkers Homesite.
That made for a B and B final: Brantford and Brampton, with Brampton having to beat the undefeated Brantford twice.
Brampton scored a 10-7 win in the first game before Brantford came back for a 7-6 win in the second game to clinch the provincial championship.
Brantford players wore their OBA medals proudly while some Brampton players buried theirs in the dirt of left them hanging on trees.
With the returning players stepping up and the younger players developing more quickly than anyone anticipated,
The OBA roll Brantford was on began near the end of the season as it won five of six to finish 16-12 and take fourth place in the Intercounty standings.
During the double-knockout playoff tournament, Brantford beat fifth-place Stratford 15-5 and first-place Guelph 10-0 before losing 3-1 to third-place London. Brantford then beat second-place Waterloo 7-1 before beating London twice -- 16-9 and 6-5 -- to claim the playoff title.
Boehmer’s boys also won their own tournament in Brantford and were runner-up in Mississauga North,
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McCartney played centre field for Guelph batting .473 with nine doubles, two triples and 30 RBIs. He had a 1.140 OPS and was 16-for-16 stealing bases. He’s now attending Georgian College.
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Roberts won the pitching honors going 9-4 with one save and a 2.55 ERA. He walked 45 men and struck out 88 in 86 innings.
While he was awarded for his efforts on the mound, Roberts hit four homers at Cooperstown Dreams Park. Roberts helped Cambridge to a pair of tournament wins.
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Sebringville’s Deline hit .471 with 22 doubles, six triples two homers and 54 RBIs. And on the mound he was 6-6 with a 3.50, featuring a fastball, a change and a knuckler.
Besides his big night in Cambridge, he was named the Indians MVP as well as the tourney MVP in Burlington.
The youngster credits his coaches Tom Valcke, Dan Graver and Barry Grasby.
“Tom has taught me to be patient at the plate,” said Deline, “and he’s helped me with my stance.”
Does his father coach?
“I’m just the chaffeur,” said Doug Deline.
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The most influential person in Deline’s young baseball career has been his coach Valcke.
Valcke coached roughly 120 games this season: the Stratford peewees, two high school team -- Stratford Northwest and Stratford St. Mike’s, a girls team his ICase Academy team.
“Riley is not the biggest kid, in fact he’s probably average, but he always comes up with the clutch play, the clutch hit, he stepped up in the biggest games,” said Valcke. “He is consistent in the field, making the routine play almost 10 times out of 10, which is what you want as a coach.
“Sometimes we’ll have a long practice and once in a while the kids will get out of kilter. Riley will be the guy who says ‘c’om guys lets step it up.”
Valcke says that Deline wants to play the game whether it might be: a practice, an intersquad game, scrub, strikeout, 500 or 21.
“He hit for both average and for power, and he always seemed to deliver in the clutch. He had some outstanding pitching outings against some of the best teams in the province,” said Valcke. “Beyond stats and his performance, he showed leadership, contagious energy and a genuine passion for the game.”
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Cambridge’s Chad Dube won the youth coach of the year, while Brantford’s Scott Chapman took senior coach of the year.
The team of the Year was the Kitchener mosquito T2, while the volunteer of the year was Kitchener’s Chris Bishop.
Cambridge’s Riley Scandlan was named the youth umpire of the year and Guelph’s Gerard Stack the senior ump.
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Previous ICBA senior and junior pitcher and players of the year include: Brandon Dailey, Brantford, who played this summer at single-A Dayton in the Cincinnati Reds organization, Chad Marshall (Paris) who played for the Stony Brook Sea Wolves earning Honourable Mention on the 2009, plus the 2010 and the 2011 Canadian Baseball Network All-Canadian team and Tanner Nivins (Kitchener) who earned 2012 CBN All-Canadian Second Team honours, plus the 2010 as well as 2011 CBN All-Canadian Honourable Mention honours.
All three graudated from the Ontario Terriers program and coach Danny Thompson.
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ICBA Playoff Champions
Midget
T1: Brantford Red Sox over the London Minor Badgers
T2: Port Dover Sailors beat the Guelph Royals 9-5 in the final.
Bantam
Major
T1: Kitchener Panthers over Guelph.
T2: Guelph won the best-of-three final over the Kitchener Panthers 2-1.
Minor
T1: Simcoe Giants over Kitchener
T2: Guelph over Kitchener
Peewee
Major
T1: London Badgers over the Simcoe Giants
T2: Guelph won the best-of-three series over the Woodstock Wranglers 2-1.
Minor
T1: Guelph over Cambridge Cubs in the final of the double knock out tourney.
T2: Guelph won the best of three series over Kitchener 2-1.
Mosquito
Major
T1: Kitchener over London Badgers.
T2: Kitchener over Guelph.
Minor
T1: Kitchener over London Badgers
T2: Waterloo Tigers over Guelph in the best-of-three final series 2-1.
Rookie ball
Senior
T1: Kitchener over Waterloo in the final of the double knockout tourney.
T2: Guelph over Woodstock
Junior
Kitchener over Cambridge