Oakville takes tourney thanks to Guy, Jang, Makowich

The final of the Mississauga North minor bantam tournament was played at Lisgar Field ... otherwise known as the Wind Tunnel.

With the wind blowing in the score was 1-0 in the top of the seventh when Bryson Guy tripled to the fence in left centre through the gale force winds.

Moments later after Guy scored on Jack Lamont’s grounder, accepted congrats and was sipping a Gator Ade he was walking behind the first base dugout..

“Hey Hoss,” said John Kim, father of Michael Kim and a Mississauga North baseball fan/enthusiast, calling Guy by his nickname.

“You know why I brought this?” Kim said, holding up his umbrella, “because you are the new Bringer of Rain.”

It was a good laugh,

Still Guy had work to do ... and he got it done. After he pitched a scoreless sixth, tripled and scored and then stranded runners at second and third as he threw a called strike three for the final out as the Oakville A’s edged the Brampton Royals 2-1 in the final of the 16-team final. 

Brayden Makowich started and worked five scoreless for the win, combining with Guy on a two-hitter. Shortstop Christian Stefan, who made three highlight reel plays, knocked in the game’s first run in the opening inning and the score stayed that way until the seventh. Stefan who dove behind the base, rolled and spun to fire a strike to first, later make a play on the second base side of second for the out.  

Lucas Cipola, Wil Yamka and Lamont each drove in two runs as Oakville edged the Waterloo Tigers 9-6 in the semi-final. Yamka pitched 3 2/3 allowing three unearned runs and fanning four for the win. Justin Jang picked up the save pitching the final two innings allowing one run and striking out three. Jang also doubled in a run, while Stefan had three hits.    

Yamka, Jang and Jordan Woods combined on a two-hitter as Oakville edged the Whitby Chiefs 1-0 in the opener round robin play as Nathan Pauley dominated at second base handling five fielding plays flawlessly. Yamka pitched 3 2/3, Jang 2 2/3 for the win and Woods got the three toughest outs for the save. Makowich scored the only run of the game in the sixth when he singled, stole second, stole third and came across on a wild throw.    
Aidan MacCormack, David Michaud and Guy combined on a four hitter and didn’t allow an earned run, as the A’s moved to 2-0 in pool play with a 5-3 win over the Markham Mariners, the uniform Carson Kelly wore in 2007. Michard gained the win, thanks to a three-run fifth and Guy the save. Woods drove in a run, while Jang doubled. The other hits went to Mark Schmid, Jang, Cipola, Stefan and Michaud had the other hits. 

Playing in the rain drops, Oakville beat the Niagara Falcons 8-0 thanks to the Makowich and Guy combo. Makowich worked four innings for the win and Guy three for the save. Schmid had two hits and drove in a pair, Jang doubled and singled as Cipola doubled plating a pair. The key at-bat in the Oakville rally was a 12-pitch walk by Yamka.

Oakville pitchers allowed two earned runs in 35 innings (0.29) combining to strike out 28 thanks to pitched nine scoreless from Makowich, Yamka pitched 7 1/3 without giving up an earned run and Guy contributed six scoreless innings. This was despite Max Lanoue and Schmid were recovering from sore arms.

Jang and Stefan shared the A’s lead in hits with six hits batting .375 (6-for-16), while Chipola drove in four runs, followed by Lamont with three.

For manager Jeff Lamont and coach Len Woods, Schmid was next hitting .308 (4-for-13. Stefan, Schmid, Yamka and Woods each drove in a pair.