The Wes Brennan Construction Orillia major bantam AA Royals went undefeated this past weekend to capture the York Simcoe Baseball Association (YSBA) title and advance to the provincial championships in Guelph where they will represent their league and look to defend their provincial title.
The Royals started the event on Friday in Aurora drawing the first-place Markham Mariners in the double-knockout tournament. The Royals jumped on Markham early, scoring two runs in the first inning and then the teams traded singles through the rest of the game, but the Royals never relinquished the lead, winning the game 5-3.
Max Rutherford started the game on the hill and Justin Stopay was stellar in relief giving up only one run in five innings.Ben Barzo was the offensive
leader going 4 for 4 while scoring two runs in the game. Chase Brennan and Kaden Taylor both reached base twice in the win.
The Royals then advanced to face the Orangeville Bengals on Saturday; the Bengals won Friday over Bolton. The Bengals scored early and often and charged out to a 6-2 lead and the Royals' offence struggled to score until the top of the final inning when the Royals rallied for five runs to take a 7-6 lead. The Bengals scored one in the bottom of the frame to force extra innings.
Both teams failed to score in the first extra inning but Owen Buckland scampered home for the go-ahead run in the top of the second extra inning. The Bengals got two men on in the bottom of the inning when Kobe Geofroy added to his two-hit day with a spectacular diving catch in left field to preserve the win. Nolan MacNeal, Owen Kaczanowski both pitched well for the Royals while Whyatt Winkel pitched the last three scoreless innings to get the win.
The six-team tournament contained other upsets meaning the Royals' two wins earned them a bye to Sunday's final while the rest of the teams needed to continue to win to earn the right to face the Royals. After a long Saturday night, Markham prevailed and earned the right at a Friday rematch.
Sunday's final commenced at 9 a.m. on a sunny hot day in Aurora. The first two batters, Ben Barzo and Jhett Winkel, both scored and rattled Markham as the the Royals' bats came out blazing, scoring an incredible eight runs in the first two innings to take a commanding lead. The lead was more than enough for the steady pitching of Geofroy who held Markham to three runs over four innings. Teddy McCollum Kuntz and Owen Kaczanowski both reached base in all four at-bats in the win.
The win marks an incredible fifth straight YSBA championship for the 2003-born Royals. They won select in 2014, single A rep in 2015 and 2016 and AA rep in 2017 and 2018.
This year's win seemed improbable as the YSBA amalgamated the AA and AAA loops in the major bantam division.
Even though the Royals' regular season was less than stellar the team once again proved to be resilient in the post-season.The Royals will compete against all the other league winners in Guelph in a 10-team double knockout tournament to crown a provincial champ.
