Terrier teams hit the high notes in Music City
The Ontario Terriers and Nashville, Tenn. always went together like peanut butter and jelly.
Like New York Yankees greats Catfish Hunter and Thurman Munson, or macaroni and cheese.
It was only fitting that the Terriers won the SANDLOTT 18u World Series title in Nashville on Sunday. Coach Dean Dicenzo (Hamilton, Ont.) and his Terriers ran the table with six straight wins.
The Select Amateur National Development League Of Travel Teams was founded 20 years ago.
This was the first time that Terriers had won at the 18u event since 2006 when Terriers founder Danny Thompson (Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont.) took his team to Nashville a first time.
Thompson was country when country wasn’t cool, liking the likes of Hank Williams Jr. Alan Jackson, George Jones and Dolly Parton. Especially when any of them sang the Blues Man.
Dicenzo’s 18U Terriers beat Greg O’Halloran’s 17U Terriers 7-4 in the championship. And next year Dicenzo will coach many of the 17Us.
The Terriers opened the tournament with a 10-8 win over perennial middle Tennessee powerhouse, the Hit after Hit Outlaws.
Game 2 was a tight 2-0 victory over the North Columbus Bruins, followed by another nail biter, a 4-3 win over the Music City Saints.
After winning their pool and coming out as the No. 2 seed, Game 1 of the playoff round was an easy 12-0 blowout over the No. 11 seed Athletics.
In the semi-final the Terriers would face their old rival, the Kalamazoo Maroons. The gold and blue would come away with a hard fought 5-3 win, vaulting them into the championship game.
The all-Terrier final was made possible as the 17u Terriers knocked off the No. 1 seed of the tournament Saturday night.
The 17s were 1-1-1 in pool play with a 5-1 win, a 2-2 tie and a 9-2 loss advancing as the No. 9 seed.
Then they went on a tear!
In their first playoff game the 17s took down the St. Louis Naturals 5-2, then beat the No. 1 seed South East Prospects 8-6.
They got to the final with a 2-1 win over 415 Rise Up Baseball.
This is the way SANDLOTT Founder and Commissioner Mickey Hiter wrote it up...
“It was Terriers Day in the final. The 18u Terriers out scored the 17u Terriers 7-4 and took home the Gold Record”.
The Terriers next stop is Cleveland for the CABA (Continental American Baseball Association) National Championship, where the 18u Terriers will try to defend their 2018 championship from last summer.
Terriers 18U winners: Connor Carr-Matthews (Mississauga, Ont.), Karlis Mickelsteins (Richmond Hill, Ont.), Matt Ward (Mississauga, Ont.), Andrew Haynes (Toronto, Ont.), Dante Wright (Pickering, Ont.), Austin Gomm (Mississauga, Ont.), Brenden McQuinn (Tiny, Ont.), Ethan Sanasie-Edwards (Brampton, Ont.), Campbell Ellis (Georgetown, Ont.), Christian Bottero (Toronto, Ont.), Jamal Armstrong (Etobicoke, Ont.), Michael Stemlaw (Oakville, Ont.), Owen MacNeil (Georgetown, Ont.), Jordan Howse (Utterson, Ont.), Elijha Hammill (Oakville, Ont.), Daniel Freeman (Oakville, Ont.), Zach Marriott (Oakville, Ont.), Mike Manning (Pickering, Ont.) and Sam Worthen (Guelph, Ont.).
Staff: Manager Dean Dicenzo (Hamilton, Ont.), Pitching coach Matt Betts (Brantford, Ont.), Coaches John Milton (Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont.)and Tim Gasparotto (Mississauga, Ont.), senior advisor Scott VandeValk (Georgetown, Ont.).
16’s CONTINUE GREAT SUMMER ROLL
The 16u Terriers had another incredible weekend in Cincinnati at the Best of the Midwest.
They took a perfect 6-0 record into the championship final game against the No. 1 seed Kentucky Vipers Baseball Club, but came up short, falling 9-4.
The 16s won Game 1 2-1 over BNBA Gold (IL), 8-0 over the TCT King’s (PA) in Game 2, 8-5 over the Cincinnati Royals (OH) in Game 3, 13-5 over the Firehawks (IN) in Game 4 and went into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed.
After a 5-0 victory over the Kansas City Blue Devils, the Terriers walked off the Commonwealth Bluegrass Express 6-5 in the semi-final, setting up a No. 1 seed-No. 2 match up in the title game.
The 16u Terriers have won 17 of their last 19. They are also headed to Cleveland next week.