Thunder take third straight title
Power pitching, great hitting seal win in final against Strathroy
A rainy Sunday made for a gruelling Monday for the Tecumseh Thunder.
Sunday’s rain backed up the schedule for the Ontario senior elimination baseball tournament. After playing four games in the first three days, the defending national champion Thunder were forced to play three games in less than eight hours on Monday in order to secure the club’s third straight provincial crown.
“It was a pretty big grind with the heat out there,” Thunder first baseman Mitch Delaney said. “We played a lot of tight games, but we’ve done the fundamentals pretty well.”
Tecumseh clinched the crown with a 4-2 win over the Strathroy Royals at Cullen Stadium. Strathroy’s only two losses in the double-knockout event came against the Thunder.
“At this point, it just come down to mental,” said Delaney, whose team was unbeaten in seven games. “We have a lot of good athletes on this team. We knew what we were getting into championship Monday and we couldn’t fail.”
Pitching was huge for the Thunder, who allowed just nine runs in seven tournament games with the team not allowing the opposition more than two runs in a single game.
Right-hander Joel Pierce earned his second tournament win in Monday’s final against Strathroy, which was making its first final appearance since 2012. Both of Pierce’s wins were complete games as Tecumseh starters went the distance in six of seven games.
Right-hander Chris Horvath also threw two complete-game victories. Right-hander Brandon Lindquist and left-hander Cody Seremack also had completegame wins while right-hander Eric Carducci got relief help from Jesse Carriere for the other win.
“We had some great pitching and timely hitting,” Delaney said. “We had our horse on the mound (Monday) in Piercy and a couple of the bats came through and we had a big win.”
Strathroy got on the board in the top of the first inning, but Tecumseh got two back in the bottom of the inning. Tecumseh loaded the bases to start the game, but a double-play left the club without a run and two men on with two outs. First-year senior Keifer Quick delivered a two-run single to put the Thunder up for good.
“You have to piece anything and it worked out,” Quick said.
Delaney’s solo homer made it 3-1 after three innings, but the Royals drew to within 3-2 in the fourth inning before a hit batter and walk set the stage for a two-out RBI single by Delaney to make it 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
“Throughout the whole tournament, we kind of had timely hitting,” Delaney said. “We’d get some runners on and we’d hold off a little bit, but today we finally came through with those big hits.”
Ontario was just awarded a second entry to the national championship in Fredericton, N.B., but Thunder manager Jamie Kell didn’t tell his team that before Monday’s game.
“I didn’t let the guys know,” Kell said. “My team didn’t know because it’s 50-50 if you go (because of the costs) if you don’t get the money from the OBA (Ontario Baseball Association).”
Going as the provincial champion is worth thousands to the winner and also gives the club first option for pickups for the tournament, which is set for Aug. 25-29.
“To tell you the truth, we didn’t really know how it would go winning or losing, but our main mindset was to win, so we came through in the end,” Delaney said.
Throughout the whole tournament, we kind of had timely hitting. We’d get some runners on and we’d hold off a little bit, but today we finally came through with those big hits.