The sense around the Sudbury U18 Shamrocks houseleague select team was that they were fully capable of competing in an Ontario Baseball Association "A" tournament.

And now they know.

While the team did finish with a 1-3 record at the recent North Bay U18 Sandlot Series Tournament provided a resounding answer in the affirmative as the three Sudbury setbacks were by just two (twice) or three runs.

A 4-2 loss in the opener to the New Tecumseth Thunder was highlighted by a complete game 96-pitch effort by Shamrocks' hurler Hunter Levesque.

The locals managed to give the eventual tournament champion Northumberland Jacks their stiffest test, dropping a 7-5 decision as Sudbury starter Christopher Kremastiotis went the bulk of the way, with reliever Christian Mallett mopping things up at the end.

Another solid performance on the mound, this time from Cole Trottier (105 pitches), was not quite enough to lift the U18 Shamrocks to victory as the team found themselves doubled up, 6-3, by the Kawartha Cubs U16 AA squad.

Unfortunately for Sudbury, there was an over-abundance of runs in game four as their offensive output in an 18-0 mercy win over the Wexford-Agincourt Twins might have served better spread out a little more evenly on the weekend as pitcher Levi Yuskiw earned the "W".

The team is back in action again this Sunday, travelling east for a double-header matchup with the North Bay Panthers with provincial champiosnhips set for August 15th to 17th in West Hill.

The Sudbury U18 Shamrocks roster also features Ashten Jolette, Keagan Violette-Mantysaari, Lucas Gutscher, Maxim Gilroy, Rylee Loyer and Thomas Arsenault.