11U Sox win Gold in Ajax

It was an exciting weekend of baseball in Ajax for the 11U Black Sox as they competed in the Ajax AA Mega Tournament. 

They opened the weekend on Friday night against the Bradford Tigers in a back-and-forth game of hits and strong pitching. The score remained 0-0 after 1 inning and Bradford would take the lead in the second with 4 runs scored, only for the Soo to score 3 in the bottom of the inning. Bradford had some great hits to bring the score to 10-4 after the top of the 4th. The Soo rallied back to get 4 runs and held the Tigers to 0 runs scored in the 5th inning. The Soo could not get back on the board and were held to a 10-8 loss in the Tigers’favour. Reece Hunter and Jax Palahnuk were strong at the mound and Connor Rosbottom led the Soo with 3 runs batted in.

The Soo entered Saturday in a must win position and came out strong in the 1st inning scoring 4 runs. The Aurora King Jays answered back,and the game was tied heading into the 5th inning, where Aurora scored 2 runs, and with 2 outs the Sox rallied to score 3 runs to win the game. Strong pitching efforts were made by Charlie Truman and Thomas Hirvi. Lincoln Rennison led the team with 3 big hits in 3 bats for the win.

The final round robin game had everyone on the edge of their seats as they faced the Markham Mariners who would match every run that the Sox earned. The offensive and defensive efforts of both teams were impeccable to watch. At the top of the 6th inning, the score was tied, and Markham would score the go ahead run, only for the Sox to drive in 4 runs, and hold Markham to none in the 7th inning, securing their spot in the semi-finals on Sunday with a score of 7-4. Lincoln Rennison and Reid Boissoneau led the team in runs batted in.

The defensive game was strong in the semi-finals against the Seaway Surge as the Sox collected 8 runs in 4 innings in a collective effortdefensively, while limiting them in the field to 1 run. The Sox scored3 more runs in the 5th inning in a mercy final, finishing 11-1. Jax Palahnuk was strong on the mound earning the win, with Theo Maguire behind the plate.

Coming into the final game, it was a rematch with the Markham Mariners, and they were looking for redemption. However, the Black Sox had other plans as they would take the lead 6-0 entering the 5thinning. The game, however, was far from over as Markham would rally for 4 runs in the bottom of the 5th. With a tight score of 6-4, heavy hitters Lincoln Rennison, Theo Maguire, Reece Hunter, Jax Palahnuk, Thomas Hirvi, and Charlie Truman, contributed to 8 more runs scored in the final two innings to secure the championship winby a mercy score of 14-4. Landon Morley earned the win for the Soo with strong relief from Connor Rosbottom. 

The Black Sox entered this tournament as an underdog and proudly walked away as the Northern Orange team that nobody will soon forget!

Roster: Reid Boissoneau, Reed Keating, Thomas Hirvi, Charlie Truman, Luca Chartrand, Connor Rosbottom, Reid Entwistle, Jax Palahnuk, Lincoln Rennison, Theo Maguire, Reece Hunter, and Landon Morley. 

Head Coach: Jeff Rennison
Coaches: Mike Maguire, Brad Chartrand, Ryan Palahnuk, Jay Hunter, and Brad Entwistle.