The Chemong Home Hardware13U Peterborough Tigers came out on top at the Ontario baseball Eliminations in St Thomas, making them the first team of any age group from Peterborough to qualify for Nationals.
This group of boys has been together for six seasons of baseball and their assistant coach Noah Crowley says they headed into this tournament with some big goals.
“This has been the goal since day one of this season,” he said. “The team has won two provincial championships, we’ve been league champs multiple times. We thought this year we should take the chance.”
The tournament ran from July 21 - 25 and hosted 23 teams, meaning the odds weren’t necessarily in the teams favour according to Crowley.
Stakes were high in the double knockout tournament as the boys faced Whitby in their first game on Thursday.
“The Whitby boys played very well throughout the whole tournament,” said Crowley.
The Tigers beat Whitby 7 - 0, which set up a game against East York on Friday.
After a back and fourth game that initially got the boys down, the Tigers came back to win 15 - 9.
In a double header on Saturday Peterborough beat Milton 8-3 then came out swinging against Hamilton and won 14 - 2.
By Sunday Peterborough and Leaside as the only two undefeated teams.
“Sunday’s game was tight,” said Crowley. “But we saw a lot of clutch performances and came out as the only undefeated team.”
The last day of the tournament was a busy one.
Peterborough started the day with an 11 - 5 win over Whitby, then went on to finals against Waterloo.
“We’ve played Waterloo six times this season, won three and lost three. They’re a very good team, very well coached with a lot of talent. We knew we were in for a grind.”
In their fist game Peterborough lost 5 - 0, meaning their second game would determine the champion.
In game two the Peterborough Tigers defeated Waterloo 18 - 7, advancing them to Nationals.
“There was a lot of excitement and a lot of emotion,” said Crowley. “The culmination of a season long grind with a goal in mind - achieving that goal was pretty neat. We go into every season with high goals and the realization that all the work and time put into it paid off in the end was amazing.”
But their work isn’t done yet.
“We hope to put on a show in Windsor.”
The team will travel to Windsor for the 13U National Championships as Team Ontario.
Crowley notes that the cost to travel to this tournament continue to rise, so they are hoping to secure funding or sponsorships from local businesses to help offset the cost for families.
“We hope people see what an opportunity it is for these kids.”
Those interested in donating should reach out to head coach Adam Crowley at ahcrowley@sympatico.ca