The Lasalle Titans U13 Green team competed in the 5th Annual Rob and Tricia Morneau Memorial Baseball “A” Tournament hosted by Riverside Minor Baseball over the June 2nd to 4th weekend. This was a highly contested 10 team tournament that would only see the top team of each pool advance to the final. The Titans were excited for the challenge.
The tournament started out on Friday afternoon with pool play against the Riverside U13 AA team. The Titans jumped out to an early 10 -1 lead after two innings on some timely hitting and great base running. The team had great pitching all game and were able to prevail by a score of 14-4. That evening the Titans were slated to play the Woodslee Orioles and fell into an early 2 to 1 hole after two innings. The bats woke up and the Titans were able to plate 4 runs on four hits to grab a hold of the lead. Woodslee would not go away though, and after four innings the Titans carried a 7 to 4 lead. In the fifth inning the Titans batted around the lineup and scored 9 runs to pull ahead and finish with a comfortable 16-9 win. This was a tough game and showed the grit and determination this team would play with all tournament.
On Saturday the Titans were matched up with a strong North London team in a must win game. The Titans jumped out to a quick 4 -2 lead after two innings on some timely hitting, great pitching, and good defense. They continued this trend through the rest of the game and pulled away with a 13-8 victory. This left two undefeated teams heading into the final pool game Sunday morning against the East Side Aces from Toronto. The game was a tightly contested battle early on with great pitching on both sides and left the score 1-0 for East Side. In the bottom of the third inning the Titans “woke up” their bats and scored 8 runs on 6 hits taking an 8 to 1 lead. The Titans added 2 more through five and were up 10 -1 and looked like they were coasting to victory. However, the Aces would not go down without a fight and scored 7 runs of their own in the sixth inning narrowing the lead. The Titans buckled down in the seventh with the gloves and got a one, two, three inning to end the game 10 -8 and a perfect 4 and 0 pool record. Off to the finals!
In the finals, the Titans were set to face the hometown Riverside U12 AAA team. Some early hitting by the Titans and great defense took the Titans to an early 5 to 1 lead after three innings. Riverside cut the lead to 5 to 4 after four innings and the Titans knew they were in for a battle. The Titans added to the lead in fifth before Riverside got a two out single in the sixth inning to tie the game 6 to 6. In the seventh inning the Titans put the ball in play three times but could not find a hole. This led to a dramatic bottom of the seventh inning where with two outs again, Riverside was able to single home the winning run to end the game 7-6. This was a devastating loss, but the Titans conducted themselves with class in defeat.
The team had a fantastic tournament and rallied together on so many occasions. Every team member contributed along the way. Our team camaraderie and spirit was sensational as many of the opposing team coaches pointed out over the weekend. The coaching staff and parents are so proud of you guys and look forward to continuing this momentum for the rest of the season. Way to go Titans!
Thanks
Coach Mike