U9 Cardinals go 2-2 at OBAs, lose in the quarterfinals

The Amherstburg Cardinals U9 baseball team travelled to Dresden recently for their OBA tournament and went to the quarterfinals.

Their coaches noted they are proud of their team as they pointed out it was their first year of rep baseball.

Head coach Mike Mathieson said they went 2-2 at OBAs in Dresden, losing in the quarterfinals to Blenheim. 

In the first game, the Cardinals beat Clinton 17-8. Mathieson said they “started slow but got it going in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring a total of ten runs. Every player got at least one hit in the game. Colton Garvey and Reggie Ross led with four hits each, with Neil Mathieson, Brock Abraham, Parker Anderson, Ethan Bradacs, Reed Gignac, Tyler Hindermeier, Cam DiPasquale and Beau Schiefer collecting multiple hits.”

In the second game, Amherstburg lost to Kincardine 11-4. Mathieson said not their best game, as didn’t get going until the fourth inning. Patrick Motruk, Jacob Fox and Atticus Martin collected multiple hits and each drove in a run.

The Cardinals beat Caledonia 13-5 in the third game, with Mathieson stating it was an “incredible effort given the letdown of last game and facing elimination, (Amherstburg) showed so much heart in this one, sparked by Cam DiPasquale’s three run home run in the first inning, total team effort, played well defensively.”

In their fourth and final game, the Cardinals lost to Blenheim 19-0.

Mathieson reported Amherstburg “totally ran out of gas, Blenheim jumped out right away and were on fire with the bats.” He added they “couldn’t get our footing in this game.”

The coaches are incredibly proud of the team, with Mathieson adding that going 2-2 at OBAs in their first year of rep baseball is a great achievement.

“We went 13-13 for the season which is an awesome achievement, (we) exceeded our initial expectations for a first season.” 

Mathieson added it was “an interesting mix of players we had (some we have had since T-ball, some came from other areas and some are playing baseball for the first time) and they came together as a solid team. We beat teams that were in higher divisions. Amherstburg baseball as a whole is getting stronger every year up and down our age levels, and more rep teams will be starting up next year.”

Mathieson thanked the parents, grandparents and fans for their amazing support throughout the year.

Assistant coaches Austyn Deschamps, Matt Fox and Scott Garvey were thanked for their hard work in practice and games developing the players Tryouts for rep teams will begin in September, age levels and dates will be posted. Registration for AMBA will begin early in the New Year.

U9 Cardinals go 2-2 at OBAs

Special to the RTT