OTTAWA-Four Baseball Canada National Championships began last Thursday and today, four National Champions were decided.
13U
Gold medal: Ontario 11 BC 10
Both teams displayed great offense during the gold medal matchup. TJ Schofield Sam was a force throughout the game with the bat, going 3 for 4 with a Home Run and a Double, which brought his batting average up to .765 during the tournament. Luca Ramelli (Hamilton) and Austin Bertrand (Mississauga) also went deep and combined for 5 RBI. Matthew Penney (Brampton) would be the hero in this one, hitting the walk-off golden single in the bottom of the seventh to give his team the 11-10 victory.
Bronze medal: London 6 Alberta 2
Coming off a semi-final lost against British Columbia where they failed to register a run, host team London looked to bounce back against Alberta. London opted to go with Ryodai Kojima (Toronto) on the mound, which proved to be a great decision as he pitched 5.0 scoreless innings recording 11 strikeouts. Noah Roberts (Cambridge) hit a 2 run Home Run in the top of the third to provide London with the 4-0 lead. Bradley Verhoeven (St. Thomas) added to the lead with a two-run single in the seventh, which was all London needed to secure the win and the Bronze medal in front of the hometown crowd.
15U
Gold medal: Ontario 8 New Brunswick 5
Save for one inning, Ontario was in control of this one and used an 8-5 victory to claim the gold medal. Ontario led by six after the top of the fifth before New Brunswick made things interesting pushing across five runs in the bottom only to see Ontario pull away with two runs in the sixth. Tyler Whalen (Hamilton) earned the win giving up only one earned run with none strikeouts, while also contributing at the plate with a double and scoring one run. Jake Ervin (Mississauga) and Lucas Parente (Burlington) each had two hits and one RBI. For New Brunswick, Tyrel Poore (Fredericton) had two hits including a double and drove in one run.
Bronze medal: BC 7 Vaughan 3
Sami Shoemaker (White Rock) was solid over six and a third innings, striking out eight batters to lead BC to a 7-3 bronze medal victory over host Vaughan. Austin Brown (Powell River) led the BC offence going 3-for-3 with a double, triple and four RBI, while leadoff hitter Dawson Gray (White Rock) tripled and scored two runs. Vaughan’s Ryan Kula (Toronto) pitched three scoreless innings in relief and did not allow a hit, while fanning six batters.
Semi-final #1: Ontario 6 BC 2
Cooper Davis (Mississauga) went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs to help Ontario to a 6-2 semi-final win over BC. The rest was left up to Harley Gollert (Toronto) who was solid over six innings on the mound allowing two runs, scattering eight hits and four walks, while striking out seven. Ontario was up 3-0 through two and responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth after BC had cut the lead to one. Dryden Dion (Surrey) had a pair of hits for BC.
Semi-final #2: New Brunswick 11 Vaughan 6
A five-run third inning, highlighted by a Zack Newman (Miramichi) two-run double helped New Brunswick reach the gold medal game with an 11-6 win over host Vaughan. Newman had two hits in the game, while Peyton Hoyt (Fredericton) tripled, went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs as New Brunswick belted-out 14 hits. Vaughan received a 3-for-4 performance from Dondrae Bremner (Toronto) who scored one run and drove in two.
In placement games, PEI took ninth with a 9-1 win over Manitoba, Québec won the seventh place game with a 7-2 win over Nova Scotia and Alberta beat Saskatchewan 13-4 to finish fifth.
16U
Gold medal: Québec 13 Ontario 3
Quebec has been great on home soil this year, finishing first and third last weekend at the 18U Championships in Magog, Québec. This time, they rose to the top of the podium in front of the hometown crowd in Saguenay. They did so in convincing fashion, as they registered at least two runs in four of the five innings played. Bridget Kelly (Montreal) was perfect at the plate with three hits and pounded 7 RBI. Kim Ravary-Desrosiers (Repentigny) recorded the win, pitching a complete game allowing three runs on seven hits with 4 strikeouts.
Bronze medal: Manitoba 10 Nova Scotia 1
Pitcher Brittany Langlais (Garson) was solid on the mound for Manitoba, allowing only two hits to the opposition in 4 innings of work. Offensively, Langlais also did her part with 2 hits and 1 RBI. Katelyn Heppner (Winkler) and Jenai Buchanan (Crystal City) also had two hits each to help lead Manitoba to the Bronze Medal win.
Semi-final #1: Ontario 7 Manitoba 6
Pinch hitter Julia Jodouin (Sudbury) was the hero in this first semi-final game that saw Ontario rally from a three run deficit in the last three innings. With Hailey Boyd (Port Dover) representing the winning run at second base, Jodouin did not disappoint hitting a walk-off single in the seventh, sending Ontario to the grand finale.
Semi-final# 2: Québec 13 Nova Scotia 3
Pascale Jalbert (St-Honore) was awarded the win thanks to a respectable performance that saw her allow 3 runs and strike out 5. Jalbert received plenty of run support in this win, as Elyane Guevremont (Varennes) registered three hits, while Arianne Levesque (L’Assomption) and Noemie Cote (Jonquière) had two RBI each. Cote would send Québec to the grand final thanks to a sixth inning single that gave Québec the 13-3 win.
In placement games, British Columbia beat Newfoundland and Labrador 19-3 to get 7th place, while Alberta beat Quebec (2) to get 5th place.
Senior Men
Gold medal: BC 3 Ontario 0
Shane Kraemer (Chilliwack) was magnificent on the mound allowing just two hits in a complete-game effort to lead BC to a 3-0 gold medal win over Ontario. Kraemer walked two and struck out 13, while Jesse Peters (Langley) knocked in a run in the second for all of the offence BC would need. Sean Hotzak (Coquitlam) and Robert Foerster (Aldergrove) came through with RBI singles in the fifth for a pair of insurance runs off Ontario starter Zack Breault (Amherstburg) who was also impressive striking out 12 over seven innings.
Bronze medal: Ontario (2) 11 New Brunswick 0 (5 innings)
Ontario (2) came out swinging and took advantage of three New Brunswick errors in the first inning to cruise to an 11-0, five-inning win to claim bronze. New Brunswick was faced with the tough task of a quick turnaround after a heartbreaking semi-final loss and had no answer for the quick Ontario (2) outburst. Sean Bignall (Mississauga) and Jerome Smith (Mississauga) each had three hits, while teammates Troy Black (Mississauga) and Ian Campbell (Mississauga) drove in two runs each. Paul McKenna (Mississauga) recorded the win with a four-inning effort that saw him allow only one hit.
Semi-final #1: Ontario 10 Ontario (2) 2
It was one-sided all-Ontario battle as the boys from Tecumseh came up with a 10-2 win and a trip to the gold medal game over their counterparts from Mississauga. Mitch Kramer (Amherstburg) was very good over six innings on the mound giving up two runs on seven hits, while fanning three. Kevin Mailloux (Tecumseh) had three hits and drove in four runs to lead the offence for Tecumseh, while leadoff batter Curtis lambkin (Lakeshore) scored three runs and went 2-for-2 with two RBI.
Semi-final #2: BC 1 New Brunswick 0 (8 innings)
This one was a classic where unfortunately, one team had to lose and it was Robert Foerster (Aldergrove) who came up with a RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to give BC a 1-0 win over New Brunswick. The game featured a pitcher’s duel as New Brunswick’s Jean Francois Neveu (Miramichi) went head-to-head with BC’s Jesse Peters (Langley). Neveu had 11 strikeouts through seven and a third innings of work but allowed a leadoff single to Robert Wagner (Port Moody) in the eighth who then stole second and scored on Foerster’s single. Peters struck out 11 through seven and two-thirds innings before giving way to Shawn Schaefer (Pitt Meadows) who recorded the last out in the top of the eight and was subsequently credited with the win.
