EBBA Minor

Pennant Champions - St. Thomas
Playoff Champions - St. Thomas
Playoff Finalists - North London

Provincial Championship for Cardinals

It was a weekend 3 years in the making for the Optimist Major Mosquito Cardinals baseball team as they captured the Baseball Ontario Major Mosquito “B” Provincial Championship Labour Day weekend in Chatham with an 11-1 victory in the championship game in 5 innings vs Essex.  “I can’t tell you how happy I am for all 12 boys” manager Derek Brooks said.  “Every single player contributed in one way or another this weekend and it truly was a team victory.”

The Cardinals started the tournament with a Friday night bye and faced Pelham on Saturday morning.  Pelham took the game 4-3.  With the double knockout tournament style, the Cardinals faced elimination vs Milton Saturday morning.  After quickly falling behind 3-0 after 3 innings, Curtis Gremonprez slapped a single into right field to bring the Cardinal bench to life in the 4^th inning.  Jake Rick, Jonny Rive, and Michael Mommersteeg all scored to tie the game.  With 2 outs Brendan Echlin punched a double into centerfield to score Justin McDonald to give the Cards the lead for good.  Milton was eliminated by a final score of 5-3 and the Cards advanced to play Essex.

The Yellowjackets jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after the first inning.  The Cards took back the lead by scoring 3 of the first 4 batters in the 2^nd inning and then Trevor Ross pitched the game of the tournament.  Ross pitched 6 2/3 innings and was 1 out away from a complete game and then pitch count chased him from the game.  Jonny Rive came into close the deal, giving the Cards an 11-4 win and moved them to the semi final vs Wyoming Sunday.

Wyoming took a quick 1-0 lead after the top of the 1^st but the Cards answered back with 1 of their own in the home half of the first with Jake Rick crossing the plate.  The game was locked in a dead heat until the 6^th inning when Trevor Ross took a lead off walk followed by Matthew Brooks double to the fence.  With runners on 2^nd and 3^rd with 1 out, Nick Medeiros drove in the go ahead and winning run with an infield single.  The Cards put up 3 runs in total and defeated Wyoming 4-1.  Brooks and Michael Mommersteeg pitched well combining to strike out 13 Wyoming batters.  Essex was waiting for the final as the received the free pass to the championship game.

Again, Essex took the lead 1-0 in the top of the first.  The Cardinals never looked back pounding out 8 runs in the bottom of the first inning with a flurry of hits.  Brendan Echlin drove in 3 runs in the first inning with a bases clearing double.  Cardinal defense and a solid pitching performance by Griffin Luce held the Essex team at bay for the rest of the game.  The game was totally blown open with a Kyle Lovie grand slam homerun in the 4^th inning leading the Cardinals to the OBA Championship victory with an 11-1 final.

“This win has been a long time coming”, said Brooks, “3 years ago our record was 4-24 for the season and last year we improved enough to make it to the OBA final, but being able to capture the championship makes it all worthwhile.”

Playoff Champions - North London
Playoff Finalists -- St. Thomas

Playoff Champions -- North London
Playoff Finalists -- Oakridge

Playoff Champions - North London
Playoff Finalists - Oakridge