‘Lights On’ Huskies baseball program takes a major step forward

Huron Park second baseman Ashton Yallup (right) flags down a high throw, but Ingersoll pinch-runner Chase Freelen was able to steal second on the play. (Jeff Tribe photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

The lights did eventually go out on the Woodstock Huron Park Huskies baseball season.

But not before illuminating a program taking a major step forward in 2026 under a collective ‘Lights On’ approach.

The term speaks to a response when the team’s backs were against the wall, in effect flipping a positive switch toward a brighter path.

“We always talk next play,” explained coach John Gregus. “The guys have bought into it.”

The mantra and mentality paid off in a come-from-behind 9-8 Thames Valley Regional Athletics quarter-final win over the Ingersoll DCI Blue Bombers Tuesday, May 19 at Woodstock’s Tip O’Neill Field. The Bombers belied their seventh seed status by taking an 8-4 lead into the sixth inning against the second-seeded Huskies.

“They kick us in the mouth and go up by four,” Huron Park’s Coen Roode credited of the starting point for a five-run comeback. “That’s our guys, keep playing gritty.

“Nothing comes easily, but keep playing gritty, good things happen when you put the bat on the ball.”

Grade 9 rookie Ethan Dawson scored the tying run, hustling all the way from second on an Ashton Yallup ‘chalk duster’ (RBI double) on the left field line. Huron Park’s Fyfer MacDonald scored what would stand as the game-winner fielder’s choice via a slow Keigan Westra ground ball to second, beating the throw to the plate.

“I just ran,” said MacDonald, reading the play off the bat.

Blue Bombers reliever Ethan Stewart limited the damage from there, exiting the inning down just one run on a 5-2 putout at the plate followed by a swinging strikeout.

MacDonald closed out the one-run win for the Huskies around a one-out base hit to left-centre. Blue Bombers pinch runner Chase Freelen stole second to put himself in scoring position, but MacDonald added a strikeout, Dawson squeezing the game’s final out on a towering fly ball to left, up into the wind. It looked anything but routine with the potential tying run bearing down on home plate, but Dawson displayed no sense of nervousness then or in the game’s immediate aftermath.

“It was moving, left to right,” he calmly explained.

“Pretty close,” assessed Blue Bomber shortstop/pitcher Kolton Cameron, who also suits up with the Ontario Nationals program. He enjoyed playing with an IDCI team featuring ‘a great group of guys’ who battled through adversity throughout the season. “Played a lot of close games and got more wins than last year,” he summed up.

“It’s coming along,” added coach Tyler Neeb. “We lost, but on a high note, we played our best game of the year, had great attitudes and stayed mentally strong - something we’ve been working at all season.”

The Huskies would run into a dominant left-handed pitcher from St. Thomas St. Joe’s that afternoon who kept Huron Park bats quiet throughout, exiting on the wrong end of a 6-0 semi-final decision.

“The Cinderella run felt just short and the slipper didn’t fit this year,” said Gregus. “But the foundation has been laid.”

The Huskies 6-3 record (a first-place 5-2 tie with Tillsonburg Glendale during the regular season) was the strongest in recent memory the coach continued, establishing Huron Park as a legitimate 2026 contender.

“With strong leadership, a competitive culture and a growing belief in the program, the future of Huskies baseball is bright,” he concluded.

The Woodstock CI Red Devils also celebrated a seasonal highlight on the day, a 16-6 eighth seed quarter-final upset of the number one Glendale Gemini that morning at Dorchester’s Royal Field. Pitchers Sully MacDougall, Xeng Ngo-Simmonds and Zack Molinaro shared in the mound victory. WCI would subsequently lose a tight 10-7 semi-final decision to St. Thomas Parkside in their afternoon semi, the excitement of their earlier decision still resonating.

“The win against Glendale was program altering in terms of finally getting a playoff win,” said coach Eric Molinaro. “And to do it over the number one seed and defending WOSSAA (Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association) champs made it that more of a sweet victory.”