Stratford Nationals Weekly Recap: 15U competes for OBA, 18U plays in ICBA tournament
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
By: Michael Willoughby
This weekend, the two top-tier Stratford Nationals teams played in tournaments: the 15U team competed for a place in the Ontario Baseball Association (OBA) ‘A’ tournament, while the 18U team participated in the Inter County Baseball Association (ICBA) playoffs. Both events used an OBA-mandated double-elimination format.
In the 15U OBA ‘A’ tournament opener at Stratford National Stadium, Stratford faced the Brantford Jones Red Sox on Aug. 6. Anchored by the top batting order of Will Molenhuis, Jake Price and Cole Morris, the Nationals put their offensive firepower to great use with a seven-run first inning en route to a 20-2 win after a mandated mercy rule ended the game after three innings.
Stratford’s Max Barter recorded five strikeouts while giving up only two earned runs on five hits and three walks in three complete innings.
Following the game, Stratford coach Rick Boon praised the team’s tournament-opening win.
“We swung … really well tonight. The pitching was outstanding, and we hit the ball really hard. We did some really smart things. We didn't make any defensive plays that were bad, so that was all good,” Boon said.
On the evening of Aug. 7, Stratford hosted the Waterloo Tigers for a spot in the final round of the tournament. In what was a tight contest through five innings, the Waterloo offence broke open with four in the sixth and three in the seventh to put themselves ahead 9-1 heading into the bottom of the final inning.
With two outs, the lacklustre Nationals offence came to life and ignited a fiery comeback attempt. Molenhuis’ single and a Waterloo defensive error led to runs from Reid Musselman and Barter. After a single from Jackson Goebel, a walk from Morris, and an RBI single from Price, Molenhuis scored to cut the Stratford deficit to five.
Waterloo committed a second defensive error on a Carter Cook pop fly, allowing Goebel and Morris to score and reducing the lead to 9-6. However, the rally ended when Landen McCann's infield pop fly ended the game, leaving the Nationals in a must-win situation on the tournament's final day.
In the morning game on Aug. 8, the Nationals faced the Brantford McClelland Red Sox in their semifinal game, with the winner facing the Waterloo Tigers in the afternoon game.
Brantford got off to an early 4-1 lead before the Nationals scored 11 unanswered runs in the next four innings to go ahead 12-4 heading into the final inning. The Red Sox staged a late rally with three runs, but reliever Blake Mogk managed to strike out to seal the win and put Stratford in the final round.
McCann had a productive day for the home side as the third baseman went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, two runs scored and a walk.
Stratford faced the Waterloo Tigers in the final round of OBA qualifiers. To advance to the provincials in Muskoka, they must beat the Tigers twice, which is a challenging task. In their early afternoon game, Stratford achieved their first goal with an 11-1 victory over the Tigers.
The game was briefly paused due to rain in the bottom of the fifth inning and resumed shortly after 4 p.m. It was then concluded after a Cook sacrifice fly RBI triggered the mercy rule.
Cook led the Stratford offence with three hits, and Quintin Parr led Stratford with three runs scored. Seven different Nationals recorded an RBI, while McCann and the Nationals defence destabilized the Tigers’ offence to a single run.
Nearly an hour after the rain-delayed game concluded, the decisive game occurred with the trip to the OBA’s at stake.
The Nationals jumped to an early 5-0 lead in the second inning before the Tigers clawed back to within a run heading into the third inning with Stratford leading 5-4.
RBIs from McCann, Barter and Parr put the Nationals back by four in the next inning, and the Nationals subdued the Tigers’ offence for the next two innings. But Musselman, Goebel and the Stratford defence were unable to hold off the Tigers in the fifth with six unanswered Waterloo runs and lost the game 10-8.
Boon commented on the heartbreaking loss and noted the challenges of playing three games in one day and the team's inability to maintain a lead.
“Yeah, I think by the end of playing three games in one day, it's a tough haul for any team. But we got ahead early, and we just couldn't squeeze it and couldn't hold the lead,” Boon said.
“We didn't do anything drastically wrong. They hit the ball, and they made the right plays at the right time, and we just didn't get to where we wanted to be at the end.”
Boon told the Times that, ahead of the 15U ICBA playoffs, the team plans to participate in multiple practices and engage in team bonding activities before traveling to the league tournament in Kitchener from Aug. 21 to 23.
At the 18U ICBA Tournament in Brantford, the league’s seventh-ranked Nationals opened their tournament play against the Kitchener Diemert Panthers on Aug. 6.
Trailing 3-0 heading into the sixth, the Nationals started to muster their comeback, starting with a two-out RBI groundout from Reed Bowles and a bases-loaded walk from James Robinson to put Stratford within a run.
The Nationals completed their comeback the very next inning when Daniel Hovius hit a two-out ground ball, only for a Kitchener defensive error to allow Hovius to reach first and allow Cooper Yantzi to score from third.
Stratford took their first lead of the game in the first extra inning on a two-out RBI single from Dawson Davidson, allowing Bowles to score from second base. In the latter half, the Panthers re-tied the game on a line drive single off Caden Diehl.
After Stratford failed to score the next extra inning, they lost the game on an error from Hovius, putting the Nationals in a must-win situation for the remainder of the tournament.
Robinson got the start for Stratford and went seven innings with two strikeouts, allowing two earned runs in eight hits and four walks in 111 pitches. Bowles and Davidson produced the lone RBIs for Stratford in the loss.
The next game on Aug. 7 saw the Nationals facing the Cambridge Cubs in the next round of the tournament. Cambridge took a 2-0 lead after two innings, but the Nationals poured on five runs in the seventh inning and held on for a 5-2 win. Bowles’s two-out bases-loaded walk put the Nationals ahead, and a two-run RBI single from Finley Newton added insurance.
Hovius pitched three innings for Stratford, allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks, followed by Alex Everett’s four shutout innings of one-hit ball in relief.
Stratford faced Guelph in the league quarterfinals. Guelph took the early 1-0 lead before the one-out RBI single from Hovius allowed Diehl to score from third base to tie the game at one apiece in the top of the fourth.
After the Royals retook their lead in the fifth, the Nationals levelled back on Hovius’ second RBI of the game, this time on a one-out groundout, allowing Diehl to score from second base.
The Nationals had a golden opportunity to take the lead in their half of the seventh with Newton on second and Bowles in third, but Everett’s infield pop fly ended the inning.
Unfortunately for the Nationals, their tournament run came to an end on a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh, losing the game 3-2.
Bowles got the start on the mound for the Nationals, pitched five innings with two strikeouts, allowing one earned run on six hits and three walks and threw 99 pitches.
Stratford’s last tournament of the season starts on Aug. 13 at the OBA ‘A’ Provincials at Clarington, with their first match against Tecumseh. The four-day tournament will be featured in next week’s edition of the Times.
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