Dedication,
determination and teamwork were all that the Wolfe Flooring Mitchell Major
Rookie OBA needed to reach the semi-finals in the Stratford OBA Tournament held
over the Father’s Day weekend, June 16-18th, 2017 at the Dufferin
Park in Stratford.
Against Waterloo in game one on Friday night, the Wolfe Flooring OBA’s mercied their opponent in three innings by scoring 15 runs. Mitchell started the game by allowing 2 early runners on base in the first inning but ended the inning with a pop-up to first, and no runs scored. The second inning saw tightened defense from the OBA’s on the infield, leaving both of Waterloo’s runners stranded on base. Good infielding choices made by the team in the third inning, maintained the Wolfe Flooring OBA’s comfortable lead, and kept Waterloo from reaching home to add any runs during the game. At the plate, the Mitchell Major Rookies started the game off in the bottom of the first inning running once through their batting order and scoring 7 runs against Waterloo. Mitchell didn’t look back as they scored 3 additional runs in the second inning and 6 more in the bottom of the third. Five runs were scored on triples batted in by Elijah Bender and Ryan Klumper, while doubles from Klumper, Jack Crowley and Zack Siemon added another 4 runs for the Major Rookies, and singles from Bender, Griffin Bree, Jonah Gibbings, Matthew Menheere, and Charlie Wolfe rounded out the scoring with 6 additional runs being added in the 15-0 win for the Wolfe Flooring OBA’s.
Mitchell opened game two early Saturday morning against Whitby by scoring three runs in the top of the first inning, however, Whitby mercied the OBA’s by adding 7 runs in the bottom half of the inning. Mitchell added two more in the top of the second, and then the team worked hard shutting-out the first three Whitby batters, closing up the gap, and coming within two runs. In the top of the third, Mitchell managed to tie-up the game at 7 runs. The consistency of the Major Rookies on the field led by quick pick-ups by Max Hannon at pitcher, limited Whitby to scoring only 2 additional runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. At the plate, everyone managed to reach base, assisting the Wolfe Flooring Rookie OBA’s to secure a place the semi-finals of the tournament, as the team rallied to came from behind, in a solid 16-9 victory against Whitby.
Under windy conditions in the semi-finals on Sunday morning, Essex would be the final opponent for the Major Rookies in their first and only loss of the tournament. The wind played a factor in the game, as Essex drove the ball hard along the ground and had Landon VanBakel on third, Ethan Jarmuth on short and Logan Verberne at second working hard to keep the Mitchell OBA’s in contention, however, by the middle of the fifth inning Essex pulled ahead scoring 6 runs, in the eventual 14-4 loss for the Wolfe Flooring OBA’s.
A fantastic team effort was showcased throughout the tournament by the team, which gave their fans plenty to cheer about. Way to make us all proud boys!!