Rookie Diamonds Win Provincial Title

The Chatham Diamonds Rookie baseball team won the Ontario Baseball Association ‘B’ championship at Jaycee Park in Chatham on Sunday.

After cruising through their opening games by defeating the St. Thomas Cardinals 13-2, and Welland 25-8, the Diamonds would hit a speed bump facing the Woodslee Orioles in what would prove to be a championship game preview.

In the third game of the tournament, the Diamonds looked poised to sweep their way to the final, climbing out to an 11-1 lead over Woodslee, but the Orioles fought back, eventually taking a 15-13 win, and putting Chatham on the ropes. Jacob Williams, who was an offensive threat all weekend, had two doubles and two RBIs in the loss.

Chatham however, was not done. Facing the Aurora Blue Jays, the rookie Diamonds squeaked out a 7-6 win, sending them to the championship game. Kurt Countryman had two singles and three RBIs in the win, while Tevin Kelly, Owen Reeve and Jacob Williams each had two hits.

In the championship game, Chatham again faced Woodslee, the only team to defeat the Diamonds in the tournament. Sunday however, would be the Chatham Diamonds day as Ayden Blain broke open a 4-4 tie with an RBI double in the 3rd inning, to help send Chatham to an 11-6 win, giving the Diamonds the Rookie Ontario Baseball Association ‘B’ championship.

Tevin Kelly was named the tournament MVP after providing the Diamonds with clutch offense and defense throughout the weekend, including three singles in the final. Trent Stephenson, Sebastian Moreno and Tyler Ewald all had three hits each and Alex Chickowski had one hit in the championship game as well.