Jul 10, 2023 | S. Weldon | 623 views
12U Cardinals Win Mississauga North Tournament
The Cardinals won six consecutive games this past weekend to win the Mississauga North AA/A tournament. Ten Cardinal pitchers teamed up with some excellent defence to allow just ten runs over the six games which was more than sufficient when paired with their relentless offence.
Three pool games were played prior to the playoff rounds scheduled to start on Sunday morning. The first pool game on Friday night versus the Oshawa Legionaires ended in a 12-1 victory. Oshawa managed just one hit after breaking up the Cardinal no-hitter with an infield single with two out in the last inning. Keenan Reynolds, the Cardinals leadoff hitter, was 3-4 with two doubles and two runs scored.
The remaining two pool games on Saturday morning were against the Mississauga Southwest Twins and Kawartha Cubs. Rhys Rowbotham pitched 6 2/3 innings and earned the victory in a 7-3 win against the Twins. Reece Fuller earned the win against the Cubs after allowing just one run while the offence scored four times before Kawartha was able to record their first out. Cooper Duits stood out on defense while catcher Thomas Weldon threw out three runners on the day.
These three victories in pool play earned the team a spot in a quarter-final game Sunday morning against Stouffville. The Cardinals won 14-5 after Hayden Goodfellow-Oster and Paul Twiss pitched the first half of the game while Brayden Foulds was 4-5 with a double. Evan Wells also had four hits along with three of his 13 tournament RBI. Dylan Rayburn had four hits and made one of the three outstanding defensive plays at second base that he would make over the weekend.
The Cardinals would jump out to a quick lead in the semi-final with four straight hits and four runs in the top of the first against the Mississauga North Tigers. The offence was ruthless scoring 17 times in four innings to eliminate the Tigers from the tournament with their first loss.
The two best teams in the 16-team tournament met in the championship which was close until the Cardinals broke it open in the fifth inning. Drew Hamilton caught his third game of the day and continued his great defence garnering compliments from opposing coaches. Nathan Foulds was the hero going 3-3, scoring three times and driving in Jackson Hutchison for the walk off run to mercy the North London Nationals 12-2 and win the tournament.