Whitby Chiefs represent Ontario at Bantam Canadian Championship

Back row: Clare Osborne (coach), Nick Dimpfel, Brodie Harkness, Matt Mistele, Travis Seabrooke, TJ Baker, Brent Cleland, Riley Sewell, Jake Lumley, Marcus Rozsa, Gerry Prendergast (coach), Jeff Hardy (coach).
Front Row: Justin Gaudet, Logan Stewart, Cal Quantrill, Aaron Langlois, Connor Mailloux, Jeff Baggaley, JD Osborne, Evan Webb, Toby Handley

Whitby Bantam Canadian Championship Article:

Whitby Chiefs represented Team Ontario at the Canadian Bantam Championships, hosted by Vaughn and won a Bronze medal, with an overall record of 5 wins and 2 losses. Ontario got off to a good start at the tournament with a 14-1 5 inning mercy win over Nova Scotia. Cal Quantrill picked up the win, going 3 innings and allowing 2 hits, no walks, while striking out 4… T J Baker and Brent Cleland pitched an inning each in relief. The offensive stars of the game were Matt Mistele with 4 hits, 3 runs scored and 2 rbi’s and Toby Handley with 2 hits and 3 rbi’s.

In game 2, Ontario defeated Manitoba 11—6. Ontario fell behind in the 1st inning, as Manitoba came out swinging and built up an early 4—0 lead. However, Nick Dimpfel hit a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 1st for Ontario, to put Ontario back in the game. Aaron Langlois picked up the win in relief and Justin Gaudet came in to register the save. Brodie Harkness had a single, double and 2 rbi’s, while Marcus Rozsa, Matt Mistele and Travis Seabrooke had 2 hits each.

In game 3, Ontario met up with Tournament favourite British Columbia and fell to them by a score of 8—2. Starting PitcherBrodie Harkness picked up the loss for Ontario. BC broke up a 2-1 Ontario lead with 4 runs in the 4th and 3 more in the 5th. Nick Dimpfel went 2 for 3 with a triple and 2 rbi’s for Ontario.

In game 4, Ontario got back in the winning column, with a convincing 12—2 win over Newfoundland. Jeff Baggaley threw a complete game 4 hitter for Ontario, allowing no walks, while striking out 2. Nick Dimpfel hit a 2 run blast, while Connor Mailloux had 3 hits, including a double. T J Baker and Justin Gaudet had 2 hits and 2 rbi’s each, while Travis Seabrooke also added 2 hits for the winners.

The quarter final Game 5 on Saturday night went right down to the wire, as Ontario came from behind in the 7th, on Logan Stewart’s bases loaded 2 run single, to defeat a tough Alberta squad, by a score of 8—7. After taking a 3—0 lead, Ontario fell behind 7—3, as Alberta scored 7 runs in the 3rd inning, off starter Cal Quantrill. Jake Lumley relieved a held Alberta off the scoresheet the rest of the way, as he allowed only 1 hit, while striking out 8. Lumley also had 3 hits, while Matt Mistele continued his hitting spree with 2 more singles.

The all Ontario battle was now in place, as Ontario met up with host Vaughn Vikings in the semi finals. Vaughn got out to a 9-0 lead, but Ontario battled back and eventually lost the game by a 10—8 margin. Losing pitcher Travis Seabrooke deserved a better fate, as he picked off 3 Vaughn runners in the first 2 innings at 1st base, but registered no outs, as Team Ontario did not execute the run down in each case. All 3 runners eventually scored. Jake Lumley had 4 hits in a losing effort. Langlois belted 2 doubles, while Stewart and Handley had 2 hits each.

The loss to Vaughn put Ontario into the Bronze Medal game against BC, who had lost to Saskatchewan, in the other semi final by a score of 3—0. Ontario got off to a quick start as they scored 4 runs in the 1st inning and never looked back, as they revenged an earlier loss to BC, with a 7—3 victory. J D Osborne gained the win, pitching 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits, while striking out 8 and walking 1 BC batter. T J Baker came on in relief and closed out the medal win for Ontario. Mistele, Lumley and Rozsa each had 2 hits for the winners.

Lumley led all Ontario hitters with a batting average of .684, as he collected 13 hits in the tournament. Matt Mistele hit .478, while collecting 11 hits. Toby Handley (.421) and Travis Seabrooke (.381) had 8 hits each. Nick Dimpfel had 8 rbi’s on 2 HR’s and a triple. Ontario’s J D Osborne was selected as the all –star 3rd baseman in the tournament.

Whitby Chiefs Bantam Team Season Highlights:

The Team achieved an overall 48-10 record this year. (includes the Nationals 5-2 record). Not included is the Sudbury Summer games where all 12 players played on the EOBA team that went 5-2 and beat COBA for a bronze medal. Other highlights for the team were tournament wins at the Mississauga Tigers and Vaughn tournaments. The team also played in the 28 team Buffalo New Era tourney, where the team was seeded #1 overall after 4 games, eventually losing to Dayton, Ohio. In the Toronto Baseball league play, Whitby finished 12-2, tied for 1st place with North York, who finished 12-7.