The Newmarket Hawks lost their first game of the 2016 Elimination tournament 1-0 in a pitching duel between Victor Simon and Strathroy's Annett.

Simon and Annett were brilliant as they shut down each others offence. With one out and runners at first and second in the bottom of the fourth, the Hawks looked to take the lead but Mother Nature decided otherwise and opened the skies.  After a five hour rain delay,  the game resumed. Despite the rain delay,  Annett returned to get out of his jam and keep the scoreboard filled with donuts. 

In the top of the seventh Simon gave up a solo home run that dropped over the left field fence. That would be the deciding factor in this pitching gem. The Hawks put a couple more runners on in the bottom of the seventh but could not score. 

The Hawks will play Saturday morning at 9:15 am at Cullen Park against the Windsor Stars, who lost their first game to Bolton.

The Newmarket Hawks headed down to Talbot Park to take on the Leaside Leafs on Thursday night. Veteran David MacPherson came out of retirement to take the bump for the Hawks. D-Mac struggled at times and left the game down by a few. The Leafs took a solid 9-6 lead into the ninth. The Hawks scored three runs in the ninth inning to tie the game and then scored two in the tenth to take a 11-9 win.

Victor Simon picked up the win for the Hawks in a relief appearance. The Hawks doubleheader on Saturday has been postponed. They are now off until Tuesday when the Martingrove Sox come to town.