The Peterborough Tigers 16U Elite baseball team are Ontario Baseball Association “AAA” champions winning the Provincial title in Hamilton over the Labour Day weekend against the top 13 teams. 

Peterborough began the Provincial tournament on Friday by defeating the Markham Mariners by a score of 3-1.  Hunter Young took the mound pitching 4 innings of shutout ball.  Jag Turner relieved picking up 5 strikeouts and Alex Kuypers earned the save.  The Tigers had 7 hits led by Kyle Duda with 2.  Rylan McCullough, Caleb Dalton, Tim Imeson and Noah Nowak had 1 hit each.

In Game 2, Ian Neck led the way with a no-hitter to defeat the Cambridge Cubs by a 10-0 score.  The bats were booming with 9 hits including a home run by Kuypers, 2 doubles by Gus Reid and a double by Duda.  Turner picked up 2 RBIs while Alex McMann had a hit and 1 RBI and Aiden Stabler had a run scored. 

On Saturday night, the Tigers matched up against a tough London Badgers squad.  Peterborough jumped out to a 4-0 lead and hung on for a 7-6 win in an intense game.  Ryland Cunningham pitched 6 innings with Reid coming in for the 7th to pick up the save.  Turner had 2 hits while Duda had 2 hits, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI and was a rock behind the dish.  Jacob Penny was steady in left field throughout the game. 

On Sunday, the Tigers drew the host Hamilton Cardinals.  Peterborough turned to Young once again to take the hill and he threw 7 innings of 4-hit ball, striking out 4 in a 5-1 victory.  The Tigers constantly put pressure on the Cardinals pitching with 6 hits, drawing 8 walks and 2 hit batters.  Turner had 2 hits and McCullough had 2 hits including a booming double to the wall.  Imeson smashed a triple.  McMann had sac fly and RBI.

In the second game on Sunday, the Tigers and London matched up again.  This time, the Tigers were dialed in from the start and jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and did not look back winning by a score of 10-2.  Kuypers hit a massive 2-run home run in the 1st inning. Emmitt Carmichael hit a double and scored a run.  Reid hit a double and had 2 RBIs while Turner had 2 RBIs.  McMann scored twice.  Turner was solid on the mound pitching a complete game, 6-hitter with 4 strikeouts.

In the 3rd game of the day, Peterborough played against the tough Mississauga HPP Tigers in the tournament finals.  The pitchers dominated in a low scoring affair.  Kuypers got the ball and lasted into the 6th inning, giving up 4 hits with 8 strikeouts.  Nowak relieved Kuypers in the pressure packed 6th inning to shut the door on the HPP Tigers with the bases loaded and keep the score at 2-1 for the opposition at that time.  With 2 outs in the top of the 7th and down by 1 run, the Tigers did not quit with Cunningham singling to get it started.  Then Carmichael came up with a clutch single driving Cunningham to 3rd.  Stabler hit a hard ground ball that got past the shortstop to tie the game.  Nowak, after giving up a lead off single in the bottom of the 7th and hitting a batter, was able to keep HPP Tigers off the scoresheet in the inning and the game went into extra innings.  Starting with a runner on 2nd base in extra innings, the Tigers got a sacrifice bunt from McCullough to move Nowak to 3rd base where he scored on Kuypers line drive single.  In the bottom of the 8th, the HPP Tigers bunted the runner to 3rd base.  With one out and the infield in, a sharp ground ball was stabbed by Cunningham at 2nd base, and the runner at 3rd base could not score.  Then with 2 outs, Nowak induced a ground ball to shortstop Reid who was rock solid all tournament and easily threw out the batter to bring the 16U AAA provincial championship home to Peterborough!

Special thanks to all the parents, coaches, sponsors, Pulse Physio and our trainer Nic Koo, and the PBA who helped in this achievement!