In a thrilling quarter-final game, Ontario struck for two runs in the bottom of the 7th to nip Alberta 8-7 at the Bantam Boys championship in Vaughan, ON. Logan Stewart (Lindsay, ON) was the hero as his base-hit scored the tying and winning runs for Ontario. To that point Alberta was leading thanks to a seven-run 3rd inning where they scored all of their runs. Brayden Munro (Okotoks, AB) highlighted all the scoring in the 3rd with a bases loaded double that cleared the bases. Jake Lumley (Windsor, ON) came on in relief of Ontario starter Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, ON) in the 4th and shut the door the rest of the way to earn the victory. Lumley gave up one hit and struck out eight. Ontario will now face Vaughan in the semi-finals.
The other quarter-final saw Saskatchewan cruise to a 7-3 win over Nova Scotia setting up a semi-final match with BC. Down 2-1 in the 3rd inning, Saskatchewan would plate six runs to take a lead they would never give up. The highlight of the inning was an Emery Anderson (Regina, SK) two-run single to give Saskatchewan the lead. From there the game was in the hands of Bryce Crosbie (Moose Jaw, SK) who pitched 5 1/3 innings to get the win. Ben Meade (Cole Harbour, NS) had three hits and RBI in a losing cause for Nova Scotia.
In round-robin games, Connor Noble (Vancouver, BC) had a dominant performance on the mound as BC beat Ontario 8-2. Noble went the distance and struck out twelve for BC.
Nova Scotia barely edged Manitoba 7-6 in a very close contest. Jordan Crawley (East Preston, NS) had three hits and two RBI for Nova Scotia while Derek Millar (Oak Bluff, MB) had two hits and two RBI for Manitoba.
In a wild one, Alberta broke a 9-9 tie in the bottom of the 7th to beat Québec 10-9. Roberto Valdez (Chestermere, AB) struck out four on the mound and also picked up a hit and two RBI to lead Alberta to victory. Québec’s Vincent Dion (Terrebonne, QC) was 3-for-3 with two RBI.
Daniel Procopio (Etobicoke, ON) hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 7th to score Owen Spiwak (Mississauga, ON) and give Vaughan a dramatic 16-15 win over New Brunswick. Vaughan’s Shayne Rajadurai (Oak Ridge, ON) and New Brunswick’s Austin McIntyre (Chatham, NB) each had four RBI in the game.
Thomas Joseph Baker (Acton, ON) was 2-for-4 with two RBI as Ontario beat Newfoundland 12-2 in a shortened mercy rule game.
The trend of wild, high scoring games continued as Saskatchewan got by PEI 14-12 in the final round-robin game. Jordan Schultz (Strasbourg, SK) led the way for Saskatchewan with two hits and five RBI. Tyler Arsenault (Summerside, PEI) led the way for his team collecting two hits and three RBI.
