Baseball Canada Championships: Winners crowned on championship Sunday
Photo Credit: Baseball Canada
By Michael Nellis
Baseball Canada
OTTAWA – After the opening medal round games set the stage, Sunday’s action-packed final games featured some of the closest contests yet – and some of the biggest celebrations.
All remaining games had meaning attached as placement and medals were decided all around the country. Here’s how the champions were crowned at all four Baseball Canada events this weekend.
18U Championship
Ontario cruised into the championship game with a 16-0 win over New Brunswick. Bradley O’Neill had three RBI in the semifinal contest, pushing his total up to five in the last two games. Matthew Gravelle also pitched in with a multi-RBI game.
London (Host) had a tougher time advancing into the championship game, but still took their semi over Quebec convincingly, 6-3. Evan Kiser picked up a complete game win, as the Badgers scored three in the fifth and seventh to take the game.
In the final, Ontario’s rep Tecumseh had a lead on London headed into the seventh inning, until the hometown group put up seven runs in the top of the seventh and final inning, which was enough to clinch the title.
Scores
7/8: British Columbia 10, Manitoba 11
9/10: Newfoundland and Labrador 3, Nova Scotia 1
5/6: Saskatchewan 3, Alberta 13
SF: Ontario 10, New Brunswick 0
SF: London (Host) 6, Quebec 3
Bronze: New Brunswick 8, Quebec 6
Gold: London (Host), Ontario 11
13U Western Championship
Sunday belonged to Abbotsford in Spruce Grove, Alta., after the British Columbia representative rolled over the competition to take the final two games and clinch the gold medal.
In their only game of the day, they took down Camrose 10-0 in the gold medal game, after cruising to the final by the same score a day earlier.
Brandon LeBlanc starred in the gold medal game, pitching a complete game (five innings) with no runs allowed and striking out 10. At the plate he also led the way, driving in three runs.
Scores
Bronze: Regina (SK1) 9, Sask Five 8
Gold: Camrose (AB1) 0, Abbotsford (BC) 10
16U Girls Championship
Alberta wouldn’t look back from an early lead in their semifinal. They went up 7-0 against Manitoba, which would ultimately be enough to advance them through to the final.
In the other semifinal, Quebec scored a run in each inning of their matchup with Nova Scotia, including five in the fifth inning. Meghan Jasmin had three RBI, and Annabelle Guay continued the trend of pitchers faring well at the dish – she had two ribbies.
Quebec would then march to gold in a low-scoring win over Alberta, 4-1.
Scores
9/10: Newfoundland and Labrador 5, Vaughan (Host) 15
7/8: Prince Edward Island 5, Saskatchewan 15
SF: Manitoba 5, Alberta 10
SF: Nova Scotia 1, Quebec 11
5/6: British Columbia 6, Ontario 2
Bronze: Nova Scotia 4, Manitoba 5
Gold: Alberta 1, Quebec 4
21U Championship
The only games of the 21U championship took place at Parc Sanscartier, but they were all big ones. The first semifinal between St. Thomas (ON2) and Quebec featured a dominating win for Quebec.
Familiar faces near the top of the tournament’s scoring leaderboard did it again in the semi, with Francis Desilets and Jean Philippe Chagnon posting multi-RBI games.
The other rep from Ontario, Windsor, would fare better in their 5-2 victory over Saskatchewan. A balanced effort would see an almost perfect outing for Matthew Krutsch – he only allowed runs in the fifth inning.
The tournament’s only two remaining undefeated teams clashed in the final – both Ontario and Quebec were 5-0 moving into the game. Anthony Quirion got his team going with an RBI single and a run in the first inning, and they wouldn’t look back.
Quebec goes 6-0 on the weekend, and takes the final 5-3.
Scores
SF: St. Thomas (ON2) 0, Quebec 10
SF: Saskatchewan 2, Windsor (ON1) 5
Bronze: St. Thomas (ON2) 3, Saskatchewan 2
Gold: Quebec 5, Windsor (ON1) 3
Tournament links