The BIGS Seeds Baseball Canada Cup took place August 7-11 in Regina, Saskatchewan. Nova Scotia took Gold with a close 3-2 win. Nova Scotia’s first ever Gold Medal in their first Finals appearance, defeating eight-time defending champion Ontario.
Ontario played well all tournament, taking home the Silver Medal. Earlier in the day, Ontario defeated Manitoba 3-0 in the Quarter-Finals. LHP Connor O'Halloran tossed a no-hitter for Ontario. The Mississauga native hurled fourteen strikeouts while only allowing one walk and a hit by pitch. Manitoba’s contact never left the infield.
This was one of the best groups of players I have ever had the pleasure of coaching. Not only made the coaching staff proud, but you represented Ontario with class. I can’t thank the players enough for how well behaved and how well they played. When we started out on this journey, we had a vision. Young men uniting and pursuing a gold medal. We were unsuccessful at this, but what is being successful? Is being successful determined by winning or losing?
Vince Lombardi once said:
"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand".
That's what I'm proud of. As a team we got better with every game and learned what it takes to be successful. We played 4 games in less than 24 hours and 9 games in 5 days and nobody made any excuses. They have now been on the big stage. The players now understand the level of focus that’s needed to succeed on the field and in life.
Thank all the parents for their hard work and commitment to this year’s Ontario Youth Team. I applaud you all on how you raised these young men. Thank you to my coaching staff: Brodie Jeffery, Rich Leitch, Geoff Allen, the GM/Chef de Mission Frank Fascia. Thank you to Baseball Ontario’s Dirk Drieberg and Mary-Ann Smith for their assistance in the planning process.
For more information on the Canada Cup please visit: https://baseball.ca/?fd=champ&evt=cup
Twitter @BaseballCANNats.
David Quattrociocchi
Ontario Youth Team HC
