Cornhuskers pick up tournament win

A diving out Nobleton Cornhuskers catcher Kyle Hall dives to tag Merritton Alliance's Dave Collins at the plate in the third inning of the championship game Monday, Aug. 5. (David Anderson photo)   Hardware presented to Nobleton Steve Haak of the Nobleton Cornhuskers accepts the New Lowell Knights Civic Holiday Tournament Trophy from tournament organiser Allan Brownridge. (David Anderson photo)   Nobleton Cornhuskers - 2013 New Lowell Tournament Champions Back row, l-r: John Jones, Wayne Boudreau, Johnathon Berriault, Mike Leclef, Luc Boric, Trevor Berriault, Jake Friskney, Glenn Robinson, Steve Scobie, Ross Pyne. Front row, l-r: Eric Mcloughlin, Eric Jones, Steve Haak, Dan Rees, Kyle Hall, Jeff Pyne. (David Anderson photo)

August 6, 2013

The Nobleton Cornhuskers had a stunning performance at the New Lowell Knights baseball tournament winning the championship 8-5 against Merritton Alliance.

The three-day tournament held on the civic holiday weekend involved 14 teams. Nobleton and Merritton advanced to the championship final while New Lowell and Creemore Braves played in the consolation final that ended in a 10-9 win for the Braves.

In the Creemore-New Lowell game, a preview to a first round playoff match, New Lowell scored a run in each of the first and second inning. Creemore answered back with four runs in their half of the second to take the lead.

New Lowell plated a run in the third frame which was followed by four more runs in the fourth, but the Braves scored four times in the fourth to retake the lead 8-7. In the sixth inning New Lowell added two runs to their total, but Creemore battled to tie the game 9-9 and win the match 10-9 after New Lowell walked in the winning run.

The championship game between Nobleton and Merritton ended with a 8-5 victory for Nobleton. Nobleton scored two runs in the first inning to take an early lead. Merritton answered with two runs of their own in the third to tie the game, but the Cornhuskers swiftly answered in their half of the third, with one run already scored and bases loaded a grand slam homerun by Eric Mcloughlin made the score 7-2.

Merritton added two runs in the fourth and sixth innings while Nobleton added one more in the fifth frame. The Cornshukers held the Alliance in the last inning, with bases loaded and two out a ball hit to the first baseman ended the game.

The tournament win for Nobleton came after a less than promising first season in the North Dufferin League with the team winning five of their 26 games and finished thirteenth out of fourteen teams.

In a post-game presentation the Cornhuksers were presented the championship trophy. Tournament awards were also handed out. The best pitcher award was presented to Kyle Parris from Merritton while teammate Dave Collins received the best batter title. The Most Valuable Player was Nobleton's Mcloughlin.

Tournament Scores:

New Lowell 1 - Clearview 7
Metro Mets 1 - Aurora 6
Welland 12 - Team ING 3
Merritton 17 - Mansfield 0
Niagara Falls 0 - Bolton Dodgers 7
Midland 5 - Creemore 3
Lisle 5 - Nobleton 11

Metro Mets 6 - Team ING 5
Mansfield 7 - Niagara Falls 4
Creemore 6 - Lisle 2
Clearview 1 - Aurora 3
Welland 1 - Merritton 2
Bolton Dodgers 1 - Midland 7
New Lowell 8 - Metro Mets 0
Midland 6 - Nobleton 7

Mansfield 4 - Creemore 4*
Aurora 3 - Merritton 8
New Lowell 9 - Creemore 10 (Consolation final)
Merritton 5 - Nobleton 8 (Championship final)

*won on most base runners.