After
seven games over three long days, the 13U Clinton Mustangs have come home as
the 2024 OBA 13U Rep D Champions.
The bats were red hot, the pitching was brilliant, and the defense
was tidy over the championship tournament, which opened on Friday morning with
a convincing 22-1 victory over the Port Lambton Pirates, followed by a
hard-fought 10-6 victory over the Mitchell Astros. The boys rolled on Saturday,
battling through scorching heat to beat Lucan-Ilderton 27-17 in a 2-hour
45-minute marathon, and mosquitos under the lights in a late-night 19-11
victory over the Woodslee Orioles.
The
Mustangs hit a bump in the road Sunday morning, when the stingy defense of a
strong team from Thorold held them to 7 runs and handed them their first loss
of the tournament, 8-7.
With the Thorold A’s then winning the bye draw, the Mustangs would
need to regroup and win an extra game to get through to the finals. They did
just that, reheating the bats for a 16-3 semi-final victory over the host team
from Wyoming.
Seeking vengeance for their earlier loss to Thorold, the Mustangs
came into the final game laser-focused. They tidied up their defense, and
methodically pieced together a full-team 12-2 victory to bring home the
championship.
Although many individual accomplishments could be highlighted over
the weekend, it was the commitment to team goals and the support that players,
coaches, and families showed to each other that held the Mustangs high and
propelled them to victory. The well-deserved Ontario Championship was the
perfect culmination of a long season of commitment and development by all.