Jul 18, 2022 | Shaun Bonnallie | 398 views
St Thomas Tournament Champs!
For the second time in three tournaments, the boys worked hard and walked away with another championship victory through grit and determination in St Thomas this past weekend.
The Tincaps opened the tournament against a tough Halton Hills team. It was a back and forth affair, but when the dust settled it was a kiss-your-sister contest and both teams started off with a tie to begin weekend play. Final score 5-5.
Saturday's first game was against a scrappy Hamilton Cardinals team. It was scoreless through three innings, but the Tincaps finally got to their starter and tacked 6 runs on the scoreboard in the 4th inning. Metron pitched a solid complete game, and the Tincaps cruised to a 6-1 victory.
The Tincaps second game Saturday pegged an overmatched Pickering Red Sox team against a Tincaps team who were heating up. It ended up being a 3 inning romp, with Bergman pitching a no-hitter and the boys going home with a 20-2 victory. On to the semi-finals as the top seed in their pool!
The semi-final Sunday was against a familiar foe from last years OBA playdowns - the Kingsville Knights. This was another back-and-forth game, but the Tincaps finally put it away with 6 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning for a 12-5 win. Thornley battle hard all day and threw an 89 pitch complete game to get the W. On to another tournament final!
As fate would have it, the final was a rematch of our opening game - with the Halton Hills Eagles coming through on the other side. The Tincaps worked themselves out to a 3-0 lead after 3 innings, but in the 4th a gritty Halton Hills team put up 6 runs their own to take the lead. Our boys didn't fold like the Leafs in the first round - and came right back with 4 runs in the top of the 5th to take a 7-6 lead. Halton Hills tied it with one of their own in the bottom of 5, and after two more scoreless innings we headed to extras!
Extra inning rules had a runner placed on first and second to begin - with the Tincaps being at the top of their order! Richie lead off with a hard shot to right field that drove in the first run from second base - and the boys rolled from there. They put up 8 runs in the top of the 8th inning - and overcame a little adversity in the bottom of the 8th (giving up 4 runs of their own) - but managed to hold on and send the Eagles packing back down the 401 with their silver medals. Make the final 15-11 Tincaps!
And a special shout-out to our team Karen for working with some opposition dads in explaining how the delay in scoreboard operation doesn't affect on-field play! ;-) We'll hold a seminar on balk rules and pitcher overthrows at a later date for those interested - hang tight for invitations to be sent!
Congrats to the boys on a hard fought championship.