Ivy Leafs, Select OBA mosquito champions, are (players) Mitch Delaire, Carson Eagles, Andrew Egan, Kiefer Helleman, Nathan Leek, Christian Lehman, Garrett Lehman, Davis Morden, Daniel Reilly, Aidan Varcoe, Ethan Westbrooke . (photo / Rob J. Ross)
Sunday, September 4, 2016
By Rob J. Ross
DORCHESTER, Ont. - They weren't quite poison ivy, with no one wanting to touch, but for the Ivy Leafs, no one could touch them on the diamond.
The Ivy Leafs ran the table on their way to a provincial title, in the Select Ontario Baseball Association mosquito division, September 2-4, in Dorchester.
Team defence, along with the hitting of Nathan Leek, stung the Mississauga Majors, 14-10, in the final.
"We played well defensively. We just eliminated the errors. We made all of the routine plays and had some spectacular ones mixed in. That's what separated us the most, the defence," head coach Troy Lehman said. "We had solid pitching and strung together lots of hits."
Leek went three for four, drove in six runs, including a base clearing triple in the third inning, followed by a two run single in the fourth.
That production earned the third baseman was named offensive player of the game.
"He has lots of pop," Lehman said.
Trailing 3-1, early in the final, Ivy scored six runs in the home half of the third inning and four more runs in the fourth, on the verge of taking command of the game up 11-4, but Mississauga responded with five runs in the fifth.
Ivy secured the win, with three runs in the sixth, highlighted by a two-run single by Ethan Westbrook.
That is the same Westbrook who went in to pitch in relief, with the bases loaded and only one out, in the fourth, allowing just one run on sac fly.
Ivy's Garrett Lehman reached base four times and scored four runs. Garrett also picked up the most sportsmanlike award.
Matt Hobbs and Robert Gualiteri, led Mississauga, each with three hits and three runs scored.
Mississauga third baseman Nate Otvos, earned the defensive player of the game honours. Otvos also stars with the bat too, leading the Majors with 52 hits in 67 at bats, entering the tournament.
Both Ivy (6-0) and Mississauga (4-2) blanked their semi-finals opponents.
Ivy, from the Alliston area, finishes the year at 29-5-3, including winning a tournament in Niagara Falls and taking their home league title. The York-Simcoe league features 19 teams.
"We had a great year," expressed Lehman.