June 11, 2024

Newmarket Hawks Capture 2024 CABC Gold Bat Tournament Title

By Dan Estey

Canadian Amateur Baseball Central

The Newmarket Hawks of the Greater Toronto Baseball League captured the first annual Canadian Amateur Baseball Central Gold Bat Invitational Tournament title Sunday night in Sarnia, Ont.

The Hawks had a busy Sunday as they had to win three games to take home the tournament, which included a 5-2 victory over the host Sarnia Brigade in the championship.

The Newmarket club was 1-1-1 in round robin play. It opened Friday night against the Burlington Brants of the COBA Major League. In a game that was carried live on the CABC Facebook page, the Brants and Hawks battled to a 4-4 draw.

They had a pair of games which saw them defeat the Tecumseh Thunder 10-0 and then lose 5-3 to the Oakville A’s to finish round-robin play on Saturday.

Round robin games were affected by some weather that came into the Sarnia area Saturday evening. One game had to be suspended, as did the quarter-final games, due to wet field conditions. Enter the real heroes of the weekend, as the field crews at Blackwell Park and Errol Russell Park were up at 6 a.m. Sunday morning and had both playing surfaces playable. In fact, the diamonds looked like it hadn’t rained a drop that night.

After the completion of the last round robin game at 10 a.m., quarter-final games began at noon. The Hawks, the No. 3 seed met the Windsor Athletics of the Can-Am League at Russell Park. Newmarket scored five runs in the second to win 12-2.

Young LHP Lucas Earle was the winner going the distance. Offensively, CF Darcy Moore was 3-for-4 with three singles, an RBI and a pair of runs scored while 3B Tyler Giancos was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs.

With the win, the Hawks advanced to the semi-finals and a date with the Windsor Stars, a re-match of the 2023 Ontario Men’s AAA elimination final. Newmarket got on the board first as Darcy Moore launched a three-run homer in the third inning for an early lead.

The Stars chipped away at that lead though as they plated two runs in the bottom half to cut the lead to 3-2. The score would remain that way until the sixth inning when the Hawks would tack on a pair of runs for a 5-2 lead. The Stars got one back in the seventh but Newmarket won 5-3.

Carson Hepburn went the distance for Newmarket to collect the win. Offensively, Moore led the Hawks with his three-run blast. Bryn Sanford and Troy McLoughlin scored the other runs for Newmarket. Noah Pickering was the losing hurler for the Stars. Carter Reh and Jake Lumley both had a pair of hits to pace Windsor.

That set up the championship final where the Hawks would meet up with a red-hot Brigade team. The Brigade went 3-0 in round robin play as they outscored opponents 27-8 and took first seed heading into the playoff round. Sarnia defeated the Thornhill Reds 10-7 in the semis.

This was a tightly contested game early on as Newmarket was putting pressure on Brigade starter Kaden Gray. The Hawks had a number of chances to open the scoring but Gray and Sarnia escaped a few jams as Newmarket left the bases loaded twice in the first three innings.

The Brigade opened scoring in the fourth as Logan Buntrock led off with a single which was followed by a Gray triple to cash in the first run of the game. Rebel Bats Tournament Top Hitter Kyle Maloney would follow that with a run-scoring grounder to second scoring Gray for a 2-0 lead after four innings.

It didn’t take long for Newmarket to answer. After a walk, veteran OF Lenny Wood deposited a Kaden Gray fastball over the fence in right field to tie the game at 2-2. The Hawks broke the deadlock in the seventh on a walk, a trio of singles and a fly ball to give them a 5-2 lead.

Brigade 3B Blake Butler led off with a single but that would be all offensively that inning for the Sarnia club as Newmarket won 5-2.

Veteran hurler Josh Appel would go the distance for Newmarket (the third Hawks complete game of the day) and pick up the win. Veteran lefty Alex McLean, who relieved Gray in the fifth inning, was saddled with the loss. The Gold Bat Tournament Championship was the first since 1999 when a team from Puerto Rico won the title.

The tourney’s top hitter was OF Kyle Maloney of the Brigade. The Tournament MVP from the Hawks was 1B Tyler Lansley. Both players received bats from Rebel Bats.

Plans are in the works for the 2025 CABC Gold Bat Invitational Tournament. The goal is to increase the field of teams for next season. Information will be sent to prospective teams later this summer.