OTTAWA – The heart of Canadian youth baseball beat strong in Fort McMurray, Alberta, as the city played host to the 18U National Championship and the 13U Western Championship over the past weekend.
18U National Championship Recap
Team Ontario defends their 18U National Championship title in an epic showdown against New Brunswick. The Mississauga Tigers (ON) bested the Fredericton Royals (NB) 7-2 in the final game of the tournament with gold on the line.
Ontario scored seven runs on twelve hits while New Brunswick only managed to scored two runs despite collecting eight hits.
Ontario took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back, scoring four runs in the fourth and one run in the fifth and sixth, to lock in their second gold medal in as many years at this event.
Kaden Wint had a perfect 2-for-2 night at the plate, driving in three of the seven Ontario runs. Marc Nellis and Adyn Schell both join Wint with multi-hit performances both scoring a pair of runs for their squad as well.
The Royals would try to comeback, scoring a couple of runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 4-2 at the time. The production came from Brady Blacquier and Zack Rushton at the middle of the order, collecting the only two RBI’s for New Brunswick.
Owen Newman collected a strikeout over his three scoreless innings in relief, locking in the victory for Team Ontario.
In the bronze medal game, Québec defeated Saskatchewan 6-3 in dramatic fashion. Team Québec fell behind early but managed to comeback thanks to a huge 5-run top of the sixth, that propelled them to victory.
Québec scored six runs on seven hits while Saskatchewan tallied three runs on five hits with both teams committing one error.
The ballgame ended with Sask’s Joel Bauml getting cut down at second base, after smashing an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
Louis Charles Larouche led the Québec offence with a pair of hits, an RBI, and a run scored. Maxime Decarie was also clutch for the Québecois driving in three runs over his 1-for-2 performance.
Zachary Clement was an out away from a complete game outing, cruising for most part of the game despite only striking out a pair over his 6.2 IP.
13U Western Championship Recap
The Gold Medal Game featured a slugfest between the Calgary Cardinals (AB1) and the SaskFive Giants (SK1). Alberta would capture the gold medal on home soil beating Saskatchewan 14-4 after six innings of play on the tournament’s “run ahead” rule.
The Cardinals were on the board early and often as they scored fourteen runs on twelve hits, playing a perfect defensive game behind their pitching staff.
Drew Hanley had himself a game at the dish, going 2-for-3 and driving in four runs for Team Alberta. Cohen Zwicker, Brooks Froese, Tristan Lalonde, and Kayden Blayney all join Hanley with multi-hit performances in support of Alberta.
Hayden Mayberry and Kaleb Walker combined for six innings on the mound, each allowing two runs and striking out two and five respectively.
The Giants fell behind early and could not come back despite having seven out of the nine starters, collect hits in the ballgame. Saskatchewan only managed to score four runs on eight hits.
In the bronze medal game, the Kelowna Sun Devils (BC1) defeated Pembina Hills (MB1) 12-10. With the victory, British Columbia earns their spot at the podium in a thrilling game against Team Manitoba.
Pembina Hills had an early lead in the game, after a big 6-run top of the second had Toba ahead 8-0. BC would come back in the bottom half and put up back-to-back 4-run innings to tie the actions at 8 a piece.
Dash Domagos and Douw Van Heerden led BC’s offence with perfect 4-for-4 and 3-for-3 performances at the plate.
These two, would also dominate the defensive effort, both with strong outings on the mound. Domagos would strikeout six over five innings, while Van Heerden would strikeout a pair in a short relief appearance.
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