Shamrocks ground out to tough Twins at provincials

A very quick start could not be sustained as the Sudbury Peewee Shamrocks eventually ran smack dab into the middle of the MSBA (Mississauga Southwest Baseball Association) Twins, competing at the SOBA (Select Ontario Baseball Association) provincials in Cambridge last weekend.

Pitcher Andrew Gorman got the team off and running, tossing a no-hitter and striking out eight as Sudbury bounced Peterborough Giant Tiger 11-0 in the opener.

Gorman aided his own cause with a two-run triple, with Parker Savard plating Gorman and coming around on his own courtesy of a hard ground out by Julia Jodouin, as the Shamrocks scored four times in the first, hitting around in a seven-run second inning.

The northern pitching remained strong in game two as Savard and Ben Wallingford combined for the win, limiting the Tecumseh Rangers to just three hits in posting a 14-2 victory.

Kelly Thompson set the tone early, leading off the Sudbury first with a triple and scoring twice in the game as Sudbury amassed four runs in the first and fourth innings, adding six more in the third.

Jodouin and Savard racked up three hits each for the winners, with Patrick Thom and Braden Gobbo adding two apiece. The team displayed some resiliency in game three, battling back from a 6-1 deficit before falling 6-5 to the Brampton Red Sox.

Gorman, Thom and Joe Guzzo tried to hold the Red Sox bats at bay while the Sudbury offence slumbered through the first four innings, coming alive in the fifth and sixth.

Thom drove in a pair of runs with a double and a single, while Cam Docking also stroked an RBI double to aid the Shamrocks' cause.

While Sudbury went toe to toe with the Mississauga Twins in the early going, trailing 2-1 after two and 5-1 after three, but their opponents were simply too powerful in the end, posting an 11-1 victory.

Savard suffered the loss for the Shamrocks, despite surrendering just five hits in three innings of work, with Gorman pitching the fourth and final inning.

The locals registered their only run courtesy of Jodouin, who came around to score on a single from Ben Phillips as the Twins' pitchers handcuffed the Sudbury batsmen to the tune of just four hits.

The loss to a powerful team detracted very little from an outstanding season as the Peewee Shamrocks finished with a combined regular season and tournament record of 28-6-1.

The 2013 edition of the Sudbury Peewee Shamrocks included Kelly Thompson, Nate Paquette, Rilley Dubé, Andrew Gorman, Parker Savard, Julia Jodouin, Braden Gobbo, Ben Phillips, Joe Guzzo, Cam Docking, Mitch Keyes, Ben Wallingford and coaches Jimmy Keyes, Shawn Paquette, Gene Guzzo, Bruce Urquhart and Brian Savard.