Brame Electric Minor Peewee's capped off a very successful season with a trip to the OBA "B" finals this past weekend. Game 1 of the weekend saw the Minor Peewee's face Belle River Braves. In a hard fought battle the Nat's were down 10-6 in the bottom of 6 when Stratford put up 9 runs and walked away with a massive 15-10 win to start the weekend off
In the second game Stratford faced the Chatham Diamonds. In a back and forth affair Stratford just could not hold the lead and fell 12-8 to put them facing elimination. In their next game "loser goes home" Stratford faced off against the Dorchester Diamondbacks. Stratford got on the board early and after some major base running mistakes by Dorchester, Stratford easily sent the D-backs packin' with a big 11-5 win. The 4th game of the weekend and 2nd game facing elimination the Nats drew another tough opponent in the Bolton Braves. The braves took an 8-6 lead into the 6th but once again the Minor Peewee fought back late putting 5 on the board and running away with it 11-8 and punched their ticket to the semi finals on sunday morning.
In the semi finals the competition did not get any easier as Stratford once again had to face another very strong team in the Woodslee Oriels. In what would be a defensive affair Stratford got on the board early with a 2-0 lead and did not look back as they squeaked out a 5-4 win to advance to the finals.
Finals action saw the Nats once again face off against the undefeated Chatham Diamonds. Stratford carried a 5-1 lead into the 4th but a towering 3 run bomb by the Diamonds turned the tide of the game and helped Chatham to a 8-5 win giving Stratford their first OBA Silver Medal.
This weekend was an emotional rollercoaster for the parents and coaches and an amazing performance by the Minor Peewee boys as they by far drew the toughest card, facing 4 of the top 5 teams of the tournament, overcoming adversity and truly playing a team game. As head coach of this team I have to say I do not believe I have ever had so much fun playing or coaching baseball and I could not be prouder of this group of boys. The future is bright for this Minor Peewee group!!
Ryan Kunder