08/24/2026
The Kingsville Knights U13 girls fastpitch team finished second in the province after earning silver at the 32-team OSSTA Selects Provincial Championships in Forest Glade this past weekend.
The Knights opened the Tier 1 tournament by going undefeated in pool play Saturday, beating Waterloo-Garlund 9-8, Oakville Sr. 15-3, and Forest Glade 12-5. Team MVPs on the first day included Maddie Cardoso, Mia Black, and Jasmine Charissé.
On Sunday, Kingsville faced a second Waterloo team in the quarterfinals, winning 12-7 before beating Whitby 13-2 in the semifinals, earning the right to play in the championship.
In the final game, Kingsville faced a dominant pitcher from Toronto’s Topham Park, who held the Knights to just one run over the first four innings. The Knights fought back in the final frame, but five runs in the fifth weren’t enough to overtake the tough Toronto team, falling 12-6 in the final.
Maya Carey earned MVP in the final game. After pitching a strong first inning, Carey was hit in the face mask by a line drive early in the second, temporarily forcing her out of the game. She returned in the fifth to strike out Topham’s final batter of the game.
The tournament included several key plays for the Knights:
- Turning three double plays over the weekend, including two by Charissé.
- Catchers Avril Herrera and Gemma Melo caught six girls stealing.
- Melo added a foul-ball catch tight to the dugout fence and put down three key bunts over the span of the tournament.
- Ella Fleming played crisp defence at shortstop, throwing out eight runners.
- Cardoso caught two unaware runners at first base, tagging them out.
- Fly-ball catches by Khloe Willms-Cook in CF and Mia Black in LF.
The entire championship weekend was highlighted by dominant pitching from Charissé and Carey, along with strong hitting up and down the 12-girl lineup.
The silver medal ends a magical season for the U13 Knights, who posted a 27-3 record, earned a berth in Tier 1 of the provincial championships, and won two golds and two silvers in their four tournaments.