Over the weekend, the 11U Black Sox, along with 7 other teams participated in a tournament in Midland, Ontario.
In game 1 on Friday evening the Soo faced the Burlington Bulls. Despite a dominant pitching performance by Devon Grbich, the Black Sox couldn’t hold onto a last inning 4 run lead. Grbich had 11 strike outs in 4 2/3, giving up only a walk and double in the 5th inning. The Soo had a 6-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 6th (last inning due to time limit), but the relief pitchers had a difficult time throwing strikes, resulting in 3 walks in the inning. With 2 out, the Bulls hit a walk off triple to complete the comeback and win 7-6. Hits were difficult for both teams as the Soo finished with 6, while Burlington had 4. Mitch McLeod reached base twice with a single and was hit by a pitch.
The Soo faced the Guelph Royals Saturday morning, and the Black Sox took an early 4-0 lead after the 1st inning and doubled their lead with another 4 in the 3rd. Evan Hirvi gave a strong effort on the mound going 3 2/3. The Black Sox had to hang on as the Royals scored 4 runs in both the 4th and 5th inning. Fortunately, the Soo was able to answer with 2 runs in the 4th and 1 in the 5th to hang on for a 11-8 win. Evan Reynolds reached base three times and scored twice, while Brayden Morley, Grbich, and McLeod all reached base twice and scored twice.
Needing a win against the home team Midland in their 3rd game to reach the semi-finals, the Soo defense let them down in an 18-16 loss. Playing only 5 innings due to the time limit, Midland scored the maximum 4 runs in the first 3 innings and scored 3 in both the 4th and 5th. The Soo countered with 4 runs in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th inning, as well as 3 in the 5th, but could only plate 1 in the 3rd inning which made the difference. “We had chances to help our pitchers out and end innings with less damage, but we weren’t sharp defensively and didn’t catch the routine fly balls that we normally catch. Errors give teams second chances and ours were costly as Midland took advantage of them. Matthew Stocco led the team offensively reaching base 3 times and scoring 3 runs.
“This was another good assessment of where the boys are early in the season and what we, as coaches, must help them with. The teams were all evenly matched at the tournament, and we could have easily finished 3 and 0 in the round robin so I’m happy with our skillset thus far. The players now know that they must make the defensive plays when they’re given the opportunity. Otherwise, it gives the opponent second chances and negatively affects our pitchers in their pitch count. With the Baseball Ontario arm care rules, all 12 rostered players need to be able to pitch and throw strikes.” At practice, we’ll continue to work on their fundamentals as well as our situational defense. The players themselves need to improve their ability to stay positive whether winning or losing and be engaged and focused every inning of every game.”
Next home game at Sinclair Yards for the Trio Supply 11U Soo Black Sox is this Friday, June 9th at 6:00 p.m against the Soo Sluggers from Soo, Michigan.
