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OTTAWA, August 9, 2009 – The North Country Athletics of Watertown N.Y. did it the hard way, winning three games back-to-back-to-back Sunday to capture the championship of the 16U National Capital Elite Baseball Tournament.
North Country took the title with 3-2 cliffhanger over Lac St. Louis, Que. The Athletics had placed fifth after pool play and had to win a morning quarterfinal game over Etobicoke, then held on to beat the top-seeded Hamilton Cardinals 2-1 in a thrilling semi-final.
In the final, Tyler Patterson was the standout for North Country, throwing 6 1/3 innings of four-hit ball before giving way to closer Dustin Pond for the final two outs. Offensively, Josh Amann slammed a two-run double in the second inning, and Kyle Simmonds hit an RBI single in the sixth for the eventual winning run.
For Lac St. Louis, Laurent DeCarle and Brian Blouin each doubled and then scored. DeCarle’s run came in the bottom of the seventh to create a thriller of a finish, but the Athletics quelled the rally for the championship.
Lac St. Louis had beaten Georgetown in the other semi-final.
Hamilton, Lac St. Louis and Georgetown had all received byes into the semifinal round after placing first in their preliminary pools at the 18-team event.
Neither of the host Knights teams was able to reach the playoff round. The 16U Knights ended up 1-1-1, with an 8-8 tie against Georgetown, a 4-0 win over Oakville and an 8-2 loss to the Montreal Titans.
The 15U Knights lost all three of their games, 12-1 to Brampton, 7-0 to Etobicoke and then 2-0 in a very tight game on Saturday night to Lac St. Louis.
NEXT ACTION for the 16U Knights is at their final major tournament of the 2009 season in Long Island, N.Y. this weekend. The Knights open play in New York on Friday.