Two local representatives of Team Alberta received silver medals and one obtained a bronze medal during the first week of the 2022 Canada Summer Games in the Niagara area of Ontario.
Jaxon Zanolli of Olds and Nathan Flewelling of Innisfail, members of Team Alberta’s men’s baseball team, had to settle for a silver medal after being hammered 11-1 by Team Ontario in the final.
Swimmer Wesley Wilks of Didsbury won a bronze medal in the 50-metre (m) breaststroke Special Olympics male category on Aug. 8.
He also finished fourth in the 100m freestyle Special Olympics race.
On Aug. 9, Wilks finished fifth in the 100m backstroke, Special Olympics Male event.
Team Alberta’s women’s softball team, featuring Rayna Cruickshanks and Gracie Hodgson of Olds, along with Darby DeRuyter of Innisfail, finished in fifth place.
The best finish for Special Olympics swimmer Erica Poitras of Cremona occurred in the Special Olympics 100m backstroke. She finished in 11th place.
The participation by all local athletes in the Games, which began on Aug. 6, is over.
During the second and last week of the Games, different events were featured and there were no local athletes in those events.
The Canada Summer Games ended Aug. 21.
Team Alberta men’s baseball team head coach Dwayne Lalor said Zanolli and Flewelling made some solid contributions to the team’s efforts during their tournament.
Zanolli, a left-handed pitcher, pitched six innings of a win over Quebec.
In those six innings, he allowed one run and three hits (all singles). Unfortunately, that was Zanolli’s only appearance.
Flewelling, a catcher and designated hitter, went two for four at the plate in a game versus Newfoundland (two singles and one RBI).
In a 16-8 win over New Brunswick, Flewelling went three for four, with three runs scored.
In a 15-4 loss to Manitoba, Flewelling went one for three with two runs scored.
In the semifinal versus B.C., (a 4-0 win), Flewelling went one for three with an RBI triple.
“Both players were important to our success,” Lalor’s report said.
“Jaxon with a strong pitching performance against Quebec in the game that clinched first place in Pool B and an automatic berth in the semifinal.”
Flewelling played in six of the team’s seven games (he caught versus Newfoundland and was designated hitter the next five games).
Lalor indicated that Flewelling’s most memorable hit was his three-run RBI triple vs B.C. with the bases loaded and one out in the second inning.
Coaches had great things to say about female softball players Cruickshanks, Hodgson and DeRuyter as well.
Cruickshanks “was a rock for us in the pitching circle,” Team Alberta communications liaison Marianne Portelance was told.
Versus Newfoundland, she pitched two innings and allowed no hits or runs and struck out four. (The game was over after three innings.)
Against Prince Edward Island, Cruickshanks pitched six innings and got seven strikeouts. She only gave up one unearned run.
Hodgson was a utility player, rotating between third base as well as left and right field.
She was strong at the plate, with a 444 batting average.
Hodgson made a great defensive play during that PEI matchup.
She “charged a bunted ball and barehanded the ball then threw out the runner at first base,” Portelance was told.
DeRuyter pitched one inning. She played first base as well, but didn’t bat.
