Cardinals OBA B 9U champions

CHATHAM, Ont. - The St. Thomas Cardinals are celebrating an Ontario Baseball Association (OBA) 9U title.

Nolan Dodson smacked a three-run homer, one of the Cardinals' 20 hits in a 12-4 walk-off victory over the Leamington Lakers, in the OBA B final Monday.

"Today our kids were giddy. They were hungry. I knew it was going to be a good day. Our defence stood out," Cardinals' head coach Mike Wakefield said. "Our team is built on defence. We defend really well. In 9U, you're going to hit the ball. The team that defends is going to win. We played really good baseball."

St. Thomas jumped out 2-0 in the first inning, stretching it to 5-0 in the third and held a 10-2 advantage after five innings. Leading 10-4, the Cardinals scored twice in the top of the seventh and final inning to end the game, due to the 9U seven run per inning cap. Down eight runs, the Lakers could not catch the Cardinals.

"We try to take it one out at a time," Wakefield said. "If you get too far ahead, the kids can't comprehend that very well. One out at a time. If we make an error, move on. Forget about it. Get on base. Keep going."

Dodson, who batted three-for-three, touched 'em all in a five run fifth inning, that gave the Cardinals command of the game.

Zion Gibbons and Brett Gustavson, also delivered RBIs in the inning.

"We had several big hits," said Wakefield. "Up and down our lineup. At the bottom of our lineup, they always get it going for us. They turn it over for the top."

Gustavson and Ben Wakefield, batting second and third, both had three hits, including a double and one RBI.

Josie Goodhue had a pair of singles and drove in a run. Dawson Simpson and James Leddy, both punched out two singles, from the bottom of the lineup.

Jose Albor hit a triple and a single, picking up two RBIs. Cohen Coombs chipped in with a RBI single.

A double play turned by Dodson, playing in the middle of the diamond, was the defensive highlight of the game. Dodson snagged a hot shot back at him and threw to first base catching the Lakers' runner off the bag.

Goodhue, Gibbons and Landen Dykstra each had difficult catches in the outfield, while third baseman Greyson Ramnath solid on throws across the diamond to first base, all combining to keep Leamington off the bases.

St. Thomas had to beat Leamington twice in the final, after dropping a preliminary game to the Lakers on day two of the tournament.

The Cardinals doubled up on the Lakers, 6-3, Sunday afternoon, to force a second final game that would decide the champion.

"We knew it would be tough, but we had beat them earlier in the year," coach Wakefield said. "A 6-3 final in a rookie ball game is crazy. We played some really good defence."

Trailing 3-2 after five innings, the Cardinals struck for four runs in the sixth.

Ben Wakefield was three-for-three at the plate, including a double, with three RBIs. Dodson had two RBIs and Gustavson, two hits and one RBI. Coombs delivered two singles.

St. Thomas finished 6-1 at the tournament.

"We knew we had a good chance (at winning), coach Wakefield said. "We had a really good team last year. The three kids (Albor, Leddy, Simpson) we picked up this year were really good additions. We picked our team last September, so we've been working with these kids for almost a year."

This year the Cardinals won tournaments at St. Thomas, London and Stratford and finished first in the LDBA regular season, with a 19-2 record. The lone hiccup was losing the LDBA 9U playoff final to London West.