Prep Baseball Report

Championship Sunday: Cardinal Classic



Lou Gehrig (Red) 12 Sports Zone 1
Jacob Tuholski drove in four with a pair of extra-base hits and Andrew Collura hurled five strong innings as Lou Gehrig (Red) claimed the 2017 Cardinal Classic 17U title. Tuholski, who had three hits in Lou Gehrig’s semi-final win, connected on a two-out RBI double in a five-run fourth and cleared the bases with a triple in the fifth. Collura allowed an unearned run on six hits. The right-hander struck out three and walked two. Luke Terry jumpstarted the Lou Gehrig offense with a leadoff single in the top of the first. Mark Gilbert plated Terry with a one-out single and eventually scored on an error as Lou Gehrig had all the runs it needed before Sports Zone came to the plate. Mike O’Brien added an RBI sacrifice fly in the third. Nate Delsignore doubled to start the fourth and 11 batters trotted to the plate in the decisive inning. Sports Zone’s Sam Barley had two hits and reached base all three times he came to the plate. The centerfielder scored Sport Zone’s only run in the fourth.

Sports Zone 4 Ottawa Nepean Canadians 3
Andrew O’Connor went the distance as Sports Zone grabbed an early lead and held on to advance to the championship game. O’Connor struck out four and walked one in a workmanlike performance. The right-hander had one clean inning and stranded five including the bases loaded in the seventh. Colin Williams went opposite field to spot Sports Zone to a 2-0 lead in the first. Michael DeStefano started the game with a single to center. Sam Barley worked a one-out walk. After a double steal, Williams brought home both runners with a drive into the right center gap. Ryan Syrko started the second with a double and eventually scored on a Brandon Dutcher RBI groundout. Barley made it a 4-0 game after two with a two-out single to center to score DeStefano. Ottawa’s Jacob Clement drove in a pair of runs including one with a two-out single in the sixth pull the Canadians within one at 4-3. Ottawa loaded the bases in the seventh, but O’Connor ended the game with a strike out.

Lou Gehrig (Red) 6 NE Twins 5 8 innings
Justin Jenneve drove in Andrew Collins with the winning run as Lou Gehrig (Red) advance to the title game. Jacob Tuholski collected three hits in the win.  

Ottawa Nepean Canadians 4 Lou Gehrig Legends 2
Joe Toms worked in and out of trouble on the mound, and Ottawa’s offense needed just three hits to advance to the semi-finals. Toms worked two clean innings and stranded two runners aboard in two other frames. The right-hander was at his best in the sixth when he allowed back-to-back base hits to start the stanza and responded with a 1-6-3 double play and a routine fly ball to end the threat. Toms struck out two and allowed two unearned runs on nine hits over six innings for the win. Kai Nguyen worked a scoreless seventh for the save. Matt Wiggins connected on a one-out double in the second and Ottawa went on to get all the runs it needed. Ben Lindgren followed one-out later with an RBI single to center, and the Canadians took advantage of three Legends’ errors to push three runs across the plate. Lindgren stole second and eventually scored. Carlos Vallejos walked and scored. Vallejos made it a 4-2 game in the fourth when he plated Matt Foster with a two-out run-scoring single in the fourth. Ryan Burns and Sean Balcerzak connected on back-to-back two-out RBI singles to pull Lou Gehrig within one in the third at 3-2. The Legends put two aboard with two outs in the seventh, and Balcerzak drilled a shot to deep right field that landed just foul.

OTHER QUARTER-FINAL SCORES
Lou Gehrig (Red) 3 AdPro 1
Sports Zone 6 Nickel City 5
NE Twins 9 Diamond Pro (16U) 5

15U Championship

Ottawa Nepean Canadians 11 Barnstormers 0
Jason Zhang connected a two-run double as Ottawa grabbed a 6-0 lead after the first inning. Zhang added another RBI in the second, and the Canadians ran away with a 10-0 lead after two. Mark Cowan drove in another run.

Barnstormers 10 Niagara Thunderwolves 7
James Davis and Jake Reinisch drove in two runs apiece as the Barnstormers erased a six-run deficit with a nine-run fifth inning to advance to the championship. Jackson Rotella had an RBi single as the Thunderwolves took a 6-1 lead after one inning.