Jul 29, 2014 | Jackson Lale | 619 views
Oakridge Tournament
It wasn't the final result the St. Thomas Optimist Mosquito Cardinals were hoping for but it was continued progress. The Cards lost in the semifinals of the Oakridge Tournament on the weekend 8-1 to the London West Tincaps.
There were plenty of positives to take from the weekend though.
1. It was the third straight tournament to begin the season where the boys made it to Sunday play.
2. The bats came alive scoring 28 runs in the first three games.
3. All eight pitchers got to see action in round robin play.
The tourney began with a 9-1 win over Guelph. Jamie Noviss had a solid start going four innings with Silas Hulst coming into close out the final two. The hot bats carried over into Saturday morning play against Vaughan. Needing a win to secure a berth in the semifinals the boys came out swinging.
Four hits in the first produced a 2-0 lead after one. Vaughan would score three in the third to take the lead briefly but that would be the last runs they scored. Tied at three in the 4th the Cards put together their best inning of the season. A six hit, eight run bat around frame blew the game wide open en route to a 13-3 mercy and a guaranteed spot in the final four.
The final game of the day really had no meaning other than seeding for Sunday. Wyoming took advantage of a number of Cardinals errors and blew them out 21-6. But the boys did show signs of life offensively against a team that has had their number all season.
In the Semis London West (the eventual Champions) played the best defence the boys saw all year. Every hit by the Cardinals went either directly at the defender, or the infielder made a stellar play to record the out. In the end it was an 8-1 loss and a 2-2 record overall for the weekend.