St. Agnes Catholic Elementary School held its first Sports-a-thon last Thursday.

Junior kindergarten to Grade 8 students participated in different sport and physical endurance activities to raise funds for a peace garden and iPads for the school. Students collected sponsorship money for the event.

“The Sports-a-thon is a fun way for students to be active, while also taking ownership in their school,” principal Vito Picheca said. “I like the students to feel like the school is theirs and whatever it is that they’re doing, they’re helping to contribute to it. The event also allows for a great bonding experience and creates a lot of good community spirit; when these kids are engaged, they’re really a cohesive group.”

Picheca said the school decided to hold a Sports-a-thon after seeing the event in action at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Elementary School.

“One of my school council members is an educational assistant at St. Martin of Tours and she brought in someone to coordinate a Sports-a-thon at the school,” he said. “I went down there with another school council member to take a look at the event and was impressed by it. It was a really nice, organized event, so she volunteered to bring that coordinator over here and it just went from there.”

Picheca said a number of school council members got businesses to donate prizes for the Sports-a-thon.

Cadbury and McDonald’s also pitched in, donating T-shirts, chocolate bars, packages of gum and coupons for fries to ensure each student received something for taking part in the event, he added.

“We really didn’t know how our first Sports-a-thon was going to turn out,” Picheca said. “With all of the donations we received, we were able to do something where the students were excited, motivated to participate and the fact that they each got a gift at the end of the day, hopefully, will motivate them to go out there in the community and give back in some way. It’s all about building community spirit.”

Teacher Dana Hart gets ready for a student attack (first photo), teacher Geoff Merritt avoids a hit (second photo) and student Semir Ibrahimi is armed and dangerous during a teachers versus students dodgeball game last Friday at Orchard Park Secondary School.

The students went on to win the game, which was organized by the Grade 12 food and nutrition sciences class in honour of Hunger Awareness Week.

The class planned and implemented a number of activities last week at the school to raise awareness of hunger, along with funds for Hamilton Food Share and Plan Canada’s Gifts of Hope initiative.

“Rachel O’Reilly and Lyn Gibson from Hamilton Food Share came and spoke to the class about hunger in Hamilton,” teacher Zita Bersenas-Cers said. “They then encouraged the students to conduct activities during Hunger Awareness Week. As a class, we brainstormed ideas for what they could do at the school to get as many people as possible involved.”

The school raised $900 for food share, as well as $275 for the Gifts of Hope initiative, which will go toward purchasing chickens for a family in a developing country.

The Cardinals earned their runs on 13 hits with Marlon Krupa, Justin Proctor and Gavin Barnard each batting doubles. David Jankowski batted in a single and capitalized on three Welland errors. Starter Colin Harold and reliever Tiernan Caulfield earned the shutout, allowing just four hits.

The victory Thursday at Mohawk Sports Park made up for a 7-4 loss earlier in the week in Milton.

By Mark Newman, News Staff

The Sherwood Saints and Sir Allan MacNab Lions will be looking for their first win of the public high school junior football Division 1 regular season when they face each other on the field at Westmount high school Thursday. Kick off is slated for 4:15 p.m.

Prior to the MacNab-Sherwood game, Westmount will take on Delta on the Westmount field at 2:30 p.m.

Other Division 1 action this afternoon: Westdale is at Waterdown at 3:30 p.m. and Orchard Park visits Churchill at 2:30 p.m.

Division 2 action sees Highland at Ancaster and Barton at Hill Park, both at 3:30 p.m. and Glendale meets Macdonald on the Churchill field at 4:15 p.m.

Results from last week: Waterdown edged Sherwood 16-13, Barton beat Ancaster 10-8, Hill Park over Macdonald 13-6, Highland blanked Glendale 28-0, Westdale got by MacNab 33-6, Delta beat Orchard Park 24-6 and Westmount hammered Churchill 36-0.

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Miles, a 6-foot-6 forward, helped his Westmount team to public high school championships in 2012 and 2013. He is also a two-time member of the Hamilton Public School all-star team.

Coach Amos Connolly said one of his goals in recruiting was to add some depth to the Marauder front court and Miles will be a solid addition to the roster.

“James joins us after a standout high school career, and brings a skill set that is already CIS calibre,” said Connolly.

“He has good hands and moves on the inside, coupled with the ability to shoot from long-range.”

The Pirates beat the Brewers 6-3. Pirate sluggers Jim Banyard, Wayne Watson and Jim Parsons made good contact and mastermind John RIbbecon added two clutch hits. Dom D’Avilla was a vaccuum cleaner at short and cantankerous pitcher Ken Boyko made two tough stretches. Wayne Watson made an awesome catch in left centre. Scott Murray and Ed Salwach had three hits each for the hard-luck Brewers. Nelson Kolenski shone in right field.

The Jays and Orioles staged a slugfest with both teams scoring twenty runs. The Jays offence fired on all cylinders, led by Bernie Mobach, Rolph King and Ron Pongetti. Mark Edmondson and Bernie Mobach turned a slick twin-killing in the first. Brian Bick and Ken Dunhill starred for the Orioles.

Chris Chevalier and Geoff Burman homered to lead the undefeated Braves to a 15-13 win over the feisty Giants. Mario Sardo and Steve Warrick hammered the ball around. Mark Cheshire and Chris Chevalier were a dynamic infield duo. Dan Carter swung a hot bat for the hard-luck Giants. Rick Larose was a tower of strength at first, and Mike Hiltz ran down every fly ball hit his way. Frank Troisi pitched well,.

The A’s eked out a tough 23-20 win over the Indians. Danny Nelson homered twice and Pete Grubac hobbled around the bases for two triples. Bruce Hooker pitched well in relief of an injured Henry Kirchner, and helped his own cause by spearing two liners. Brad Lockwood flashed the cowhide.

Des Dufresne had a spectacular game for the Dodgers, who won 28-12 over the shorthanded Cards. Dufresne muscled out three doubles and a round-tripper. Mike Harris pitched an unbelievable game. Marvin Gunderman and Dave Harrington reached base five times each, and veteran Don Low hammered the ball and flew around the base paths. Gunderman and John Sullivan set a new world record for the longest juggling act on a softball field, before a fly ball dropped majestically to the ground. John DeZoete belted a frozen rope for a homer to lead the Cards. Pete Brakewell and James Elliot had four hits each and captain Al Fachnie added three. Jim Staios made several impressive catches in the outfield.

Digging in for her first appearance at the plate against the Bishop Ryan Celtics on Wednesday, slo-pitch sensation Aspen Searle of the Bishop Tonnos Titans socked a two-run triple to the gap in left-centre field at Mohawk Sports Complex.

In her second at bat, Searle lined another two-run triple to the fence in left-centre.

Ditto for her third plate appearance – a triple to right that drove in two more runs.

And guess what she did her fourth time in the batter’s box? Yep, another two-run triple.

But that last three-bagger came in the bottom of the fifth inning and it lifted Bishop Tonnos to a 13-2 mercy rule victory over the Celtics.

It was the opening game of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic Athletic Association slo-pitch season for the three-time defending champions from Tonnos.

“On two of the four times that she rolled into third, I probably could have sent her (home) to challenge the cutoff’s arm,” Titans coach Mark Marini said. “But I know she doesn’t care about home runs.”

Searle, a four-year veteran with the Titans, also stood out defensively. She caught a fly ball and, on one other occasion from her position as a rover outfielder, gathered in a ground ball to force a runner out at second base.

“She’s fabulous,” Marini said. “It’s been really special to watch her play.”

The experience gained from participating at an elite level of girls’ softball in Ontario made Searle such a star in HWCAA slo-pitch. The 18-year-old has already competed at a handful of Ontario and Canadian age-group championship tournaments.

Next month, in Brampton, she’ll try out for the Canadian national junior squad.

This will be Searle’s final year at Tonnos. In August, she’ll begin an NCAA softball scholarship at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

“I don’t really know what to expect,” Searle said of her commitment to the Bowling Green Falcons. “I’m excited. I just want to improve as much as I can. I’m ready to bring my game up to the next level.”

Searle, who hopes to eventually earn a spot on the senior national team and play in the Olympics, was named the all-star second baseman at the 2012 Under 18 Canadian championships.

Bowling Green coach Shannon Salsburg stated on the school’s website. “Aspen is an excellent addition to our softball family. She is a tenacious player who will compete right away in the middle infield.

Aspen always plays the game hard and her softball IQ is outstanding. Aspen has competed at the highest level in Canada. I look forward to watching her grow and develop here at Bowling Green.”

By Mark Newman, News Staff

The Hamilton Cardinals have yet to toss a pitch in the 2013  Intercounty Baseball League season and already one game has been postponed.

Sunday’s home-opener against Barrie, slated for 2 p.m., has been postponed and no make-up date has been announced.

The Cardinals say with the rain the city has received in the last 24 hours plus more rain in the forecast for today and tonight will result in unsafe playing conditions at Bernie Arbour Stadium.

Hamilton is still slated to open the IBL season against the five-time defending IBL champion Red Sox in Brantford at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The Card’s first home game will be May 19 at 2 p.m. when Hamilton hosts the Guelph Royals.

The St. Thomas More Knights were the big winners at the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board junior badminton championships at Dofasco Recreation Centre on Wednesday.
More captured the team points title, with 24. They were followed by St. Jean de Brebeuf, 13, Bishop Tonnos, 7, Cardinal Newman, 6, and St. Mary, 5.
Four individual events also went to athletes from St. Thomas More. Nilou Biganian and Paul Swiekosz of the Knights won the mixed doubles category, while their teammates Jeeun Lee and Venus Orig took top honours in women’s doubles. Hardy and Athena Monticello of More were the men’s singles and women’s singles champions, respectively. They’re brother-sister and, for each, it’s their first year of competitive badminton. A Grade 9 student, Athena comes from a tennis background. Hardy is in Grade 10. More is coached by Kyle Berdan and Dave Didiodato.
The men’s doubles final went to Matt Gaudet and Rommel Calura of St. Jean de Brebeuf.
Second-place finishers were: Blake/MacDonald, Brebeuf, mixed doubles; Caun/Douglin, Brebeuf, men’s doubles; Kowalczuk/Peterson, Bishop Tonnos, women’s doubles; Connelly, Cardinal Newman, men’s singles; Hauzer, St. Mary, women’s singles.

Heppenstall, a Grade 10 student at St. Thomas More, beat seven other runners with a time of 49.85 seconds, a race record and personal best.

Christian Brennan of St. Mary’s won the Susan Kozak invitational 400m, repeating as champion.

The annual race is run in memory of Pte. Mark Anthony Graham, a four-time OFSAA 400m champion from 1989-1992 who attended Sir Allan MacNab. He was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2006, the first Hamilton soldier to die in combat for Canada since the Korean War.