Submitted by the London West Tincaps
The London West Tincaps baseball team played its inaugural season in 2013, and the 2005 Minor Rookie team led the charge with a very successful first year.
With the official merger of the Oakridge and Byron competitive baseball programs, the newly-born London West Tincaps took to the diamond with a fresh look and a new desire to win.
The first year competitive team, led by Coach Bob Caron, won their first tournament of the year — the Cambridge Cubbies Classic — without even playing a regular season game prior to the event. It was a well-earned championship, as the Tincaps rallied to score five runs with two outs in the bottom of the 7th inning in the final against a strong East York team to earn the walk-off victory!
The boys continued to roll, reeling off victories at the Bob Stark Tournament, and winning the MNBA Tournament against some very strong AAA talent (for the first time in Oakridge/Tincaps history at this age level). The boys didn’t lose a game all season until late July – quite an impressive feat.
The team’s success did not go unnoticed by Baseball Ontario, as they received news they were being re-classed to AAA for the provincial championships (OBA’s) even though London West is considered a single A centre.
Although the season didn’t finish with the fairytale ending of winning the AAA OBA’s (the Tincaps went 1-2 in the tournament), the players should be very proud of themselves. An overall 45-3 record is an impressive achievement at any level.
Tryouts for the 2014 team will begin in April. If you have a child born in 2005 who resides in the Byron or Oakridge area and is interested in trying baseball, visit our website at www.oakridgebaseball.com/Teams/1068 for more information.
Go Tincaps!
