Tough playoff run for Fall Ball Warhawks

After a strong regular season in which they won seven of 10 games – including their last four in a row – the U15 Warhawks were not able to win either of their first two round-robin playoff games, putting them out of medal contention and ending their season on a down note.

“Our defense was pretty decent, but our offense went cold,” said head coach Jesse Lahache. “We had the bases loaded a few times, but we could not capitalize. Our bats ran cold at the wrong time.”

In their first game on October 10, the second-seed Warhawks faced the first-seed Presqu’ile Pirates, who defeated the Warhawks 11-6 during the regular season.

Once again, the Pirates came out on top, beating the Warhawks 15-10.

Despite the loss, Lahache said the Warhawks were still in contention for the semifinals.

The nine teams in the U15 league were divided into three divisions. Each division winner advanced, as did the best second-place team.

They faced the other team in their division, the Monteregie West Reds, on October 11, a team they had beaten 13-7 in their regular season opener.

“We had to win by four to advance,” said Lahache.

This did not happen, as the two teams ended the game tied 7-7.

Although they were able to put up a good number of runs in both games, Lahache said that the high number of strikeouts is what ultimately cost the team in both games.

According to him, Kahnawake struck out 19 times in two games.

“I don’t think we had 19 strikeouts all season,” said Lahache. “I won't take away from some of the pitchers we faced. But some of them, we were hitting those pitches all season.”

Despite the two disappointing games, Lahache said that the season was definitely a success overall.

He was especially happy with the experience of having players and the coach from outside the community joining the team. Lahache said their energy and how they ingrained themselves into the team was great for him and for the players from town.

If possible, they would want to join the Warhawks again next year, during the summer this time.

“I'm open to it 100 percent, it will depend on the numbers next year for the midget team,” said Lahache. “If we do not have enough numbers locally, then I can request for those players to come play for me, as long as their association releases them.”

Lahache’s son, Roy, will be moving up from U15 into Midget baseball, and Jesse will be moving up with him as coach, along with three or four other players from the team.

According to Lahache, staying with some of the same players has some coaching benefits – but not all the time.

“I learned this thing over the years. If you stay with some of the same kids for years, sometimes, the kids stop listening to you because you're trying to teach them the same thing over and over. You’re repeating yourself,” said Lahache.

Lahache said that moving age divisions and seeing new faces helps with that, both for players and coaches. New voices and new perspectives can make some players learn in practice what they were not able to before.

This is one of the reasons why he brings in guest coaches sometimes, and why he found having Dominic Séguin, the assistant coach from Chateauguay who joined the fall ball team with his son Noah this year, was beneficial to the team.

After finishing first in the division, the Presqu’ile Pirates went all the way to the finals, where they ultimately lost 12-7 against the St. Lazare Mustangs 1.

The Mustangs 1 finished third overall during the regular season, holding the same win-loss record as the Warhawks.

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