May 30, 2022 | Shaun Bonnallie | 538 views
Mississauga Tournament Champs!
It didn't come without a little adversity, but the London West Tincaps 18u team travelled to Mississauga to play in their first traditional-format tournament since the pandemic - and they didn't disappoint!
The weekend started out with a Friday night contest vs Royal York. It didn't start off well, as the boys gave up 4 runs in the top of the first. But in true Tincaps fashion the offense quickly responded with 6 of their own in the bottom of the first to take the lead. From that point on the team didn't look back, and cruised to a 13-7 win behind a 3-3 day at the dish from Cooper Martin to start round-robin play.
Game 2 on Saturday morning started off slowly vs the Milton Mets, but the boys cracked the goose egg by scoring two runs in the bottom of the third and kept it rolling. This one was never in doubt as they cemented a 9-0 victory behind a two-hit complete game pitching performance by Luke Thornley.
The final round robin game on Saturday had the Tincaps playing the Newmarket Hawks. The Tincaps took advantage of some shoddy defense and managed to score 18 runs on only 9 hits to wrap up first overall in their pool. Sawchuk and Zadorsky lead the charge 2 hits apiece.
This set up a Quarter Final matchup with the Lasalle Titans. In their first true test of the tournament, the boys played hard against a strong opponent. Behind a solid pitching performance from Sawchuk, where he only gave up two hits, R Richardson came in and wrapped things up with the save, recording the final 3 outs - and a 4-1 win. Off to the Semi Finals!
The Semi Final Game vs the Burlington Bulls was one the for ages - and not in a good way! It was a 3 hour and 45 minute marathon that had a little bit of everything. The Tincaps defense was not in top form, but the offense made up for it! After coming within moments of being mercied - resulting in a 5 minute delay in the bottom of the 5th inning to review opposing scorebooks - and the result being the 'official' home team scorer was incorrect (never doubt Mr GameChanger! ;-)) - the game continued. The boys rallied, sending the game into extra innings by scoring 9 runs in the last two innings, and then putting a stamp on it by scoring 9 in the top of the 8th to head to the finals with a 'gasp' 28-19 victory. L Richardson was hot on the day, leading the offense by going 4-5 at the dish - and we had out-of-the-park home runs by McFee and J Harness!
The final vs the host Mississauga Tigers was another where the boys capitalized on their chances, and broke it open midway through the game. McFee was solid on the mound, and Dawe came in late to record the final 5 outs and the boys coasted to a 9-1 win to be crowned the 2022 Mississauga North Tournament Champs!
Congrats on your first Tourney win in a few years. Great effort by all players in 6 games in three days. I'm sure everyone slept well Sunday night...... I know I did.....and I was just a fan!
GO Tincaps Go!