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22U AAA Hawks Are Going To NATIONALS!!
2022-07-27
The 2022 Newmarket 22U AAA Hawks will be representing Ontario at the Baseball Canada National Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia from Aug. 3-8!
After reeling off six straight wins at the Baseball Ontario Elimination Tournament in Windsor from July 21-25, the 2022 Newmarket 22U AAA Hawks will be representing Ontario at the Baseball Canada National Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia from Aug. 3-8!
The Baseball Ontario 22U Elims started with 23 teams from across the province vying for one of two teams to represent Ontario at the Baseball Canada 22U Nationals. At the end of play on Sunday, the Hawks were the only undefeated team in the draw:
-- Opening round comeback walk-off 5-4 win vs. Stratford after being down 4-2 in the bottom of the 7th and final inning
Baseball Canada hosts national championships each year for, among others, the 13U, 15U, 18U, 22U age groups. Club teams generally qualify for these events by winning their provincial qualifying tournament. In Ontario, these tournaments are called the Baseball Ontario Eliminations, aka the Elims, and are often considered the toughest tournament to win due to the number of teams, the quality of the teams, and the resulting marathon-nature of the double-elimination format. All Baseball Canada 22U Nationals details can be found here: https://baseball.ca/?fd=champ&evt=22u&lang=english.
The Baseball Ontario 22U Elims started with 23 teams from across the province vying for one of two teams to represent Ontario at the Baseball Canada 22U Nationals. At the end of play on Sunday, the Hawks were the only undefeated team in the draw:
-- Opening round comeback walk-off 5-4 win vs. Stratford after being down 4-2 in the bottom of the 7th and final inning
-- Second round 12-2 win vs. Etobicoke
-- Third round 15-0 win vs. Mississauga North #2
-- Fourth round 11-8 comeback win vs. Guelph after being down 7-4 going into the 7th inning, scoring 3 in the top to tie, holding Guelph scoreless in the bottom, and winning in extras
-- Fifth round 11-7 comeback win vs. Tecumseh after being down 7-6 in the 5th inning
Monday, July 25 saw only three teams remaining: Newmarket, Mississauga North #1, and Kitchener. It was Kitchener who drew the final bye which meant Newmarket faced Mississauga North #1 to qualify for the Nationals. After giving up 4 runs in the top of the 1st inning, the Hawks scored 3 in the bottom and the score remained that way until the Hawks tied the game with one run in the bottom of the 5th inning. The Hawks were not done with their comeback as they walked it off again in the bottom of the 7th inning to win 5-4 and punch their ticket to Halifax!
All that was left was to play Kitchener to determine Ontario #1 and Ontario #2. The Hawks first game was tied after the 6th inning but Kitchener was able to win it in the 7th inning, then the Hawks ran out of gas in the next game (their third of the day) so Kitchener won Baseball Ontario gold while the Hawks won silver. Both teams will now represent Ontario at the Nationals, the first time ever for the Hawks 22U (formerly "Junior") team.
Congratulations to the 2022 Hawks 22U AAA team that rostered several players who played much of their youth baseball as part of the Newmarket Baseball Association, including Aidan Ament, Bryn Biemiller, Jaden Hums, Jack Kensit, Matthew Kobryn, Eric Lucas, Reid Lunney, Keegan Pulford-Thorpe, and Liam Wedge, playing alongside more recent Hawks of Zack Dennis, Cody Thomas, Jake Dean, Charlie Martin, Logan McKnight, Ethan Murdy, Ethan Boisvert, Jakob Cellupica, Tyler Chong, CJ Maury, Ethan Murdy, Jordan Howse, Aaron Manius, and Ben Sitarenios.
Congratulations also to head coach Doug Lunney, his base and bench coaches Brian Bratt and Alex Macdonald, and the rest of his coaching staff including Rich Lunney, Rob Hums, and Matthew Biemiller. Doug, Brian, Alex, Rich, Rob, and Matthew are all long-time Hawks coaches.
The last time a Hawks team qualified for the Baseball Canada National Championships was in 2015 when they won the Baseball Ontario 13U Elims, also hosted in Windsor, to advance to the Nationals near Montreal. Coach Doug and Coach Rob led that 13U team which also included three current 22U Hawks: Reid Lunney, Matthew Kobryn, and Jaden Hums. This same group's 15U team narrowly missed out on the Nationals in 2017 where they were the finalists at the Elims (only one team represented Ontario at the Nationals that year).
The Newmarket Baseball Association is proud to have the 2022 Hawks 22U AAA team represent our association, our community, and our province in Nova Scotia! Go Hawks Go!
Click HERE to see more photos on our Facebook page!
Click HERE to see more photos on our Facebook page!