New Lowell 'AA' champs

OBA 'AA' Champions The New Lowell Knights won the 2015 OBA 'AA' championship over the weekend with a perfect 5-0 record. Pictured, back row, l-r: coach Pete Kinghan, Todd VanLieshout, Brandon Norrie, Todd Patton, Todd Gowan, Trevor Martin, Brent LaRose, assistant coach Jake Nicholson, Allan Brownridge, Jesse Metheral, Jesse McIntyre. Front row, l-r: Dale Lightheart, Andrew Willmetts, Brett Millsap, Chris Greer, Ryan Bartley, Steve Baldry, Sean Thompson, Chad Purchase, Sean Connor. (submitted photo)

September 8, 2015

The New Lowell Knights have finally won the long sought after 'AA' provincial title. The North Dufferin Baseball League team were finalists for the last three seasons, but this year had a perfect 5-0 record to take home the hardware at the Ontario Baseball Association tournament on Sunday.

The Knights faced Welland in opening action and took a decisive 13-2 victory followed by a 6-5 win over Peterborough. The team received a bye for the next round and then met hometown Kendal where the Knights outscored their opponent 11-0.

In semi-final action New Lowell played Vaughan and came away with a 5-1 victory to send them to the finals for the fourth straight year.

The championship game was a rematch with Kendal with the Knights easily winning the contest 11-1, when the mercy rule came into play after the fifth inning.

The win is the first provincial championship since 1993 when New Lowell won a senior 'D' title.

The Aurora Jays also attended the 'AA' tournament but bowed out after two games losing to Peterborough 17-3 and Welland 14-5.

At the 'A' tournament, the Clearview Orioles advanced to semi-final play. The Orioles started on the right foot with a 7-0 win over Woodslee and followed up with an 8-3 victory over Courtright, where they received a bye for the third round. Clearview suffered a loss to the strong Kincardine team 9-3 in their third game and in semi-final action suffered a second loss 6-2 to Welland.

A total of six league teams attended the 'B' tournament. The Bolton Dodgers made semi-final action with wins against Harrow 5-4, Lisle 9-5, and Creemore Barons 4-2. They suffered a loss to Creemore Barons 4-3 and were knocked out by Fort Erie with a 3-2 loss.

The Creemore Barons started with a 4-1 win over Ivy, a win over Bolton, but lost to Wyoming 9-0 and their second to Bolton.

Creemore's second team, the Braves, won their first game 4-1 over Forest, lost to Fort Erie 6-0, picked up a 11-4 win over Harrow and were eliminated with a 3-1 loss to Merritton.

The Ivy Leafs lost their first game to the Barons and bowed out with a 7-6 loss to Harrow.

The Midland Indians also lost two straight to Wyoming 10-1 and Merritton 9-4.

Lisle Astros picked up a 4-3 win over Merritton after eight innings in first round action and then suffered a 5-0 loss to Wyoming and eliminated by Bolton.

The Barrie Angels were finalists at the 'C' tournament where they picked up an early 4-3 win over St. Catharines. They lost the second game to Mitchell 3-2, but came back with a 13-5 win over Port Lambton, 12-5 win over Amherstburg, and a 4-2 win against Milton before losing in the championship game to the strong Mitchell team, 7-4.

Also at the 'C' tournament were the Orangeville Giants. The Giants opened with a 7-2 win over Petrolia, suffered a loss to Milton 6-4, beat Port Dover 7-3, and won a second game against Petrolia 4-1 before losing to Mitchell.