Through their four games at the Hornets 15th Annual Muskoka Cup, the Sudbury U11 Jr Voyageurs featured some outstanding pitching combined with a whole lot of production at the plate, winning each and every outing with a comfortable margin.
Come the championship encounter, with their pitchers roughed up a little more than usual and the hitters tamed to some extent, the Jr Voyageurs still found a way to do just enough to earn gold with a 6-5 win over the Beamsville Stingers.
That would be the same Stingers that the Jr Voyageurs toppled 8-2 in their tournament opener as pitchers Blake Rothwell and Ryan Pineau set the tone for the weekend. Cohen Rainville got the start in game two and was equally as effective, striking out seven and collecting a pair of hits as Sudbury defeated the Oshawa Legionaires 12-2.
Already up 4-1, the locals pulled away in the bottom of the third as Adam Dabliz, Blake Rothwell, Keagan Thibault and Cohen Boyuk all crossed the plate for Sudbury.
A ten-hit attack in game three was paced by Dakota Del Papa and Blake Rothwell with two hits each as the Jr Voyageurs ran over all of the host Muskoka Hornets, improving to 3-0 with a 16-0 triumph.
Hits by Dakota Del Papa, Brock Lafortune, Grace Perron and Keagan Thibault helped Sudbury to a three run outburst in the bottom of the first and the team was not about to slow down, outscoring North Bay 15-3 in their final round robin game.
Brock Lafortune picked up the win on the mound (2 IP - 0 runs; 0 hits; 6 strikeouts) with Sedric Savignac adding three innings of more than solid relief work (one hit; three runs against - zero earned; 7 strikeouts).
An early season loss to the Burlington Bulls apparently served as motivation as the squad under the guidance of coaches André Perron, Rob Pineau, Scott Fex and Tanner Morris made the rematch look easy, riding a 12-strikeout performance from Cohen Rainville to an 11-1 semi-final win.
Evan Fex, Ryan Pineau, Blake Rothwell and Brock Lafortune drove in two runs each for the Jr Vees.
Come the final, the Sudbury reps were in unfamiliar territory right from the get-go, trailing Beamsville 4-0 after half an inning of play. Undaunted, the northern crew cut the margin in half after Ryan Pineau and Cohen Rainville singled and were plated by a double courtesy of Keagan Thibault.
The team took advantage of some challenges the Stingers would have finding the strike zone in the fourth as a double by Adam Dabliz was followed by four consecutive walks from Grace Perron, Brock Lafortune, Cohen Boyuk and Sedric Savignac.
They would take their first lead of the game one inning later as Ryan Pineau drove in Evan Fex with the go ahead run. Coming on in relief of Blake Rothwell (4 IP - four runs; two earned; seven strikeouts), Grace Perron was credited with the win.
Rounding out the Sudbury roster were Trent Morris and Carter Dunn (injured).
