U9 Cardinals return home and pick up win over Tecumseh

The Amherstburg Cardinals U9 team celebrate at home plate after Reggie Ross’ walk-off home run last Wednesday night. The Cardinals defeated Tecumseh 14-4 at Bill Wigle Park and play twice this week at Malden Centre Park.

The Amherstburg Cardinals U9 rep baseball team were back in action last week and returned to the winning track.

A walk-off home run by Reggie Ross ended last Wednesday night’s game with Amherstburg winning 14-4 over Tecumseh. 

The game, played at Bill Wigle Park, also saw a home run by Cameron DiPasquale as part of the barrage of Amherstburg hits.

The victory improved the Cardinals’ record to ten wins and nine losses on the 2025 baseball season.

“We played really well,” said head coach Mike Mathieson. “We hit it a ton.”

Mathieson said they have improved their hitting a lot during the course of the season and are now starting to make hard contact on a regular basis.

“We’re making it hard for the other team to play defense against us,” he said.

The progress of the U9 Cardinals is even something that is pleasantly surprising to the coaches. Mathieson said they are doing “a whole lot better” than they anticipated and improvement is noticeable up and down the lineup.

“We were light hitting at the start of the season,” he said. “Right now, it’s really started to come on.”

The players’ confidence is growing, Mathieson added, and it builds with every victory.

“The defense is coming,” he said.

While some of the young players were hesitant about getting in front of the ball at the start of the season, they are getting used to the idea and are OK with a bruise or two if they have to knock down a ball.

“Experience does that,” said Mathieson.

The Amherstburg Cardinals U9 team has two games this week, one of which was yesterday against LaSalle after this issue of the River Town Times went to press. They have a 6 p.m. game tonight (Aug. 13) against Essex. Both games are at Malden Centre Park.

The Cardinals are back at Bill Wigle Park next Monday (Aug. 18) for a 6:15 p.m. game against Chatham.

The U9 team will compete at provincials Aug. 21-23 in Dresden.

“If we can play like this, we’ll be tough to beat for sure,” said Mathieson, after last Wednesday night’s game.

U9 Cardinals return home and pick up win over Tecumseh

By Ron Giofu