Please see the Past Winners page for a full history of all the past champions.
Take me out to CORNFEST! Another successful Cornfest Slo-Pitch weekend…
The summer of 2012 was a great season for slo-pitch with extreme heat and dry conditions; so it was nice that Cornfest weekend had perfect 20 degree temperatures for the 35th Annual Mitchell Grizzlies Slo-Pitch Tournament. The event was once again a great success, and the Grizzlies would like to thank all the teams that participated, as well as the fans who came out to cheer them on and support the beer tent. We would like to extend special thanks for all the Grizzly alumni, umpires and volunteers that helped the team; your commitment helps make our event the biggest gathering in Mitchell each year and one of the best slo-pitch tournaments in Southwestern Ontario each year. Thank you!
The 35th Annual Cornfest tournament provided plenty of exciting, competitive slo-pitch. In the 6 team Men’s Elite division, the 6 time defending champion Wolfpack (previous year’s with different name) were again the team to beat. They finished 1st in their division after round robin play, but were unable to get their offense rolling Sunday afternoon in the semifinal game against the Castaways. In the other semifinal, the Underdogs were able to defeat the Hustlers in a close game and advance to the finals. The Elite final played out with two local teams vying for the championship. The Castaways were able to prevail in a close and spirited game with a 9-7 victory in extra innings.
In the always competitive 32 team Men’s Rec division, the Mitchell Cardinals were the surprise team leading into the final day of the tournament as they hoped to win their first Cornfest Tournament. They were unable to keep their momentum and came up just short Sunday afternoon against Jimmy’s Chicken Shack; The Cardinals were able to finish a very respectable third. The final was set with the undefeated Zurich Gulls having to be beat twice by the 2-time champion, Jimmy’s Chicken Shack. The Shack, playing in their 11th year at Cornfest, were able to beat the Gulls in the first game of the championship but ran out out of steam in the sudden death game. Congratulation to both teams on the exciting finals and to the Zurich Gulls on their Rec Championship.
The 2012 edition of the women’s tournament saw a new addition; a third, fun division was created. Cornfest 2012 included Women’s Elite, Women’s Rec and Women’s F divisions, allowing for more competitive baseball; look for these three divisions to return Cornfest 2013.
In the 4 team Women’s Elite division, Whoozeup managed to beat the 9 time champion Rubberbands; another championship game between two strong teams. In what was a very tightly played division, we would like to thank Fired Up and Ship2Shore. 2013 will see a minimum of 6 teams playing for the Elite crown.
In the 6 team Women’s Rec division, Fortese Concrete finished first after round robin play and marched all the way to the finals uncontested. Finishing second after round robin play and making it to the finals were The Shooters, pitting the top 2 seeds in the championship. In another exciting Sunday final, the local Shooters team was able to top Fortese Concrete for the victory. Congratulations Shooters!
The newest addition to the Cornfest tournament was the 14 team Women’s F (fun) division; after an experimental run in 2012 this division will be back for 2013. The Pink Flamingoes of Mitchell put up a battle in the F final, but were unable to break through as the Dirty Dozen won 5-3, going undefeated for the weekend. Look out Women’s Rec teams as next the Dirty Dozen will be bumped and a threat to win.
The 35th Annual Cornfest tournament was one of the best years in tournament history; thank you to all for continuing to support the Mitchell Grizzlies and the community we donate our proceeds to! We look forward to seeing you in 2013 for the 36th Annual Cornfest from August 16th to 18th, 2013.