Julie Hastings defeated Sherry Middaugh 9-5 to capture the Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts championship Sunday in Penetanguishene, Ont.
It’s the first provincial championship for the Thornhill-based team of Hastings, her twin sister Christy Trombley, Stacey Smith and Katrina Collins, who have curled together since 1994.
Team Hastings qualified for the Ontario Scotties through the last-chance Challenge Round but went on a roll and topped the round robin with an 8-1 record, sustaining their lone loss to Team Middaugh before getting revenge in the page playoff 1-vs-2 game.
Middaugh, from Coldwater, edged Mississauga’s Clancy Grandy 7-6 in the semifinal to set up the rubber match finale.
Hastings opened the game blanking the first two ends and held the hammer in the third, however, Middaugh got on the board first with a steal of one. Middaugh, a four-time Ontario champion, lied three stones to force Hastings to draw and grab a piece of the four-foot circle but the shot was heavy and rolled too far.
Middaugh struggled in the fourth and Hastings capitalized to score four to pull ahead and a single steal in five gave her a 5-1 lead.
Middaugh recovered in the sixth scoring three to narrow the gap 5-4 after Hastings’s final shot flashed right through the port. But that was as close as she would come as Hastings bounced right back kicking Middaugh’s shot stone around the house to pick up a pair of points in seven, held her to one in eight and added another deuce in nine.
