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Young, scrappy U11 Hornets fare well in Huron-Perth final tourney

Published Aug 20, 2026  •  3 minute read

Bailee Chessell has been an offensive force all season for the Mitchell U11 (Rose) Hornets, and helped lead the club to the Huron-Perth 'A' semifinal game Aug. 16. ANDY BADER/MITCHELL ADVOCATE

A young and scrappy band of U11 Hornets from Mitchell lost a heartbreaking one-run decision in the Huron-Perth ‘A’ championship semifinal round in Stratford on Aug. 16, ending their season on a high note even if they didn’t realize it at the time. 

The Hornets (Rose) finished in third place in the Southwest Division of the 22-team league, recording a 7-5 overall record and earning one of eight spots in the ‘A’ division playoff tournament. 

To begin round-robin play, the Hornets knocked off the previously undefeated Seaforth Yellow team 15-12. A two-run home run by Bailee Chessell proved to be the big blow in a five-run fourth inning that allowed Mitchell to rally from a 12-10 deficit. It was Chessell’s second homer of the game, as she also added a double. Clara Rose scored three runs while Maria Marshall and Esme Bakewell both scored twice as the Hornets flashed some leather on the defensive side of the ball and aggressiveness on the bases. 

Amellia Vallance and Bakewell shared the pitching win. 

Against the eventual tournament champs in their next game, Seaforth Blue, Mitchell was flat offensively, and it cost them against a strong team in a 13-6 loss. 

Later in the day, needing a win to advance to the semifinals, the one-two combo of Vallance and Bakewell on the mound was stellar in leading a 10-1 victory over Listowel, punching their ticket to the semis. The duo combined for eight strikeouts in the win. Two maximum five-run uprisings offensively, one in the third capped by a Chessell homer, and another big rally in the fifth, put the game away. 

A grind-it-out semifinal against Ayr was tied 1-1 after three innings, with Vallance up to the task on the mound. Bakewell, Rose and Ella Morse also saw pitching duty as the teams traded runs as the game wound down. Mitchell trailed 5-3 after four, but took an 8-5 lead in the fifth and final inning thanks to a bases-clearing triple from Chessell. Hard-hit singles by Dana Wolfe and Rose put Mitchell on top, but Ayr rallied for three runs in the bottom of the frame to walk it off and send the Hornets home disillusioned. 

More than half of the team was first-year Hornets, and that only bodes well for the future, noted coach Brooke Rose. 

“We were quite happy with how the girls did, especially considering we were made up of a majority of first-year players,” she said. 

Seaforth Blue defeated Ayr 7-1 to win the ‘A’ title. 

Meanwhile, in the Huron-Perth ‘B’ tournament, Mitchell’s U11 (Eidt) team played well, recording one win and two narrow one-run losses in their tournament also played in Stratford. 

Mitchell started off against Listowel (Nichols) on Aug. 14 and fell behind 5-0 after the first inning, before rallying back to take a 9-8 lead. Listowel, though, came through in their final at bat to win 10-9. Darla Schoonderwoerd finished with two hits and two runs batted in while Dallas Taylor stroked a two-run double. 

The next morning, the Hornets came back refreshed and led from start to finish in a 13-7 victory over Wingham. Brooklyn Hamilton pitched two strong innings while Brooklyn Smith and Elise Kelly each had two hits. Laura Louwagie, Schoonderwoerd and Taylor crossed the plate twice, Willow Restameyer scored once and Olivia Eidt caught a nice fly ball at second base in the fourth inning. 

In the final game of the round robin against Shakespeare, another slow start had the Hornets down 5-0 after one inning but, as they’ve done all year, they did not give up and rallied back. Harper Smitjes hit a two-run home run in the second inning to change the momentum while Kelly hit another two-run double in the inning. In the third inning, Phoebe Pottle-Tschudi hit a triple for her biggest hit of the year, Schoonderwoerd smacked a double and Smith finished the inning with a grand slam to tie the contest.  

Smith pitched a scoreless third inning and the game was tied 9-9 with one inning to go. Hadley Upshall got a hit in the top of the inning, but she couldn’t come around to score. In the bottom half, Upshall made a great play at second base to make the second out, but Mitchell couldn’t get the elusive final out and lost another heartbreaker, 10-9. 

Overall, the girls had a record of 10 wins, 10 losses and two ties for the season, a solid record considering five girls had never played travel ball before this season, noted coach Darryl Eidt. The coaching staff was impressed with their resilience, and everyone improved their skills throughout the season and, most of all, had fun.