Dorchester's Jeremy Styles flips the ball to Colin Arnold (4), for the force out at second base, against Ancaster, at the Select Ontario Baseball Association provincial rookie ball tournament, held in Thorndale, Labour Day weekend. (photo / Rob J. Ross)
By Rob J. Ross
THORNDALE, Ont. - They are the little team that could.
Dorchester's select rookie ball team, the Black Sox, showed they can play with the big boys, finishing fifth at the Select Ontario Baseball Association rookie ball provincial tournament, held in Thorndale and Thamesford, September 2-4.
The 12-team event featured the likes of Toronto, Brampton, Peterborough, Kitchener and Guelph. Selecting from a pool of roughly 120 house league players, Dorchester faced centres drawing from upwards of 500 players.
"We proved that we can play with any one of those teams. The boys should be totally proud of a fantastic season," said coach Mark Stevens. "We had several character innings when we were down in the game and came back. The boys didn't get down. They just kept hitting."
Dorchester went 2-2, with Toronto Leaside ending their run, by taking an offensive back and forth affair, 25-19, Sunday morning. A eight run opening inning by Leaside had Dorchester playing catch-up all game.
Evan Stevens smacked a two-run homer, while Cameron Richardson and Ryder Morrison, each contributed three singles.
The two teams met a day earlier with Dorchester squeezing out a 28-27 win, to improve to 2-0.
Down 15-6, after four innings, Dorchester exploded for 11 runs, 10 coming with two out, including a run of 12 consecutive hits, turning the deficit in to a 17-15 advantage.
Dorchester again put the rally caps on in the seventh and final inning, trailing 27-22. Colton Henderson, who earlier in the game had homered and tripled, delivered the winning single in walk-off fashion.
Dorchester Black Sox Evan Stevens swings, connecting for a single, during the Select Ontario Baseball Association provincial rookie ball tournament, held in Thorndale, Labour Day weekend. (photo / Rob J. Ross)
Bo Mercer had a triple among his three hits. Ryan Johnson slapped out four hits, while Colin McMillan had three singles.
Royal York went undefeated winning the provincial crown, downing Barrie in the final, after disposing of Leaside in a semi-final.
Dorchester proved to be Royal York's toughest foe of the tournament, as the eventual champs, needed to score twice in the home half of the seventh inning to pull out a win.
McMillan and Jayden Strom, both delivered three hits and scored three runs, for the Black Sox.
Royal York expressed Dorchester was the best team they faced this season.
Dorchester opened with a 20-4 win over Ancaster.
Logan Hutson went three-for-three , including a home run. Both Stevens and Johnson batted three for three, with a double and three runs scored.
Dorchester finishes the year with a .500 record, combining tournament and exhibition games.