Twelve young baseball players in Sault Ste. Marie have begun the new school year with some impressive hardware.
The 9U Soo Black Sox team went undefeated in West Hill, ON this past weekend, outscoring their opponents 50 to 16 in five games to earn Baseball Ontario’s coveted provincial championship.
Ranging from seven to nine years old, the team is the youngest of the city’s five Black Sox squads in their organization’s rep program.
The franchise itself has won 20 provincial titles in their 35-year history, but never has a 9U team come up on top – until now.
Even several days after claiming victory, head coach Jordan Tibbles struggled to find the exact words to describe how proud he is of the kids.
“It’s still surreal,” he says. “We came here to play. The kids were focused; the coaching staff was focused. We had one goal in mind, and that’s what we were going after.”
The Black Sox were among 12 of the province’s best teams that qualified for a spot in Baseball Ontario’s biggest tournament. 10 of those squads came from densely populated and highly competitive leagues in southern Ontario, understandably making the Soo an underdog going in.
And the team was just fine with that.
“There were a couple teams that said, ‘Oh you’re from Sault Ste. Marie? We’re going to crush you,’” Tibbles recounts. “The kids would use that as motivation for the game. If that doesn’t light a fire in your belly, I don’t know what does.”
The Black Sox got a huge confidence boost to open the tournament after beating the North York Blues 13-0 in five innings on Friday.
“The team began realizing this could actually happen,” Tibbles says. “They truly recognized that they’re good ball players.”
That momentum carried over into their next win against a team from London, which was highlighted by an 18-run offensive swamping.
“It’s funny because our team is actually built on defense, but our hitters really came through,” the head coach says.
In game three, the Black Sox shocked Toronto’s Leaside squad, handing them their first loss of the year in a 7-0 shutout stunner.
Then in the semis, they faced a familiar team from Thornhill, who they lost to during a summer tournament in the Muskokas. This time around, the Black Sox battled hard to earn a 3-2 win, booking their ticket to the championship game.
Facing Leaside again, this time for all the marbles, the Black Sox came out on the right side of a back-and-forth affair to win the title 9-7, marking a historic day for the organization and Soo Minor Baseball.
“It was nuts,” he says. “The shock, disbelief, the emotions – everything. I think every kid had tears running down their eyes. The supporting parents and their families rushed onto the field. It was amazing.”
While their on-field performance speaks for itself, Tibbles explains their historic run highlighted more than just a display of impressive athletics.
“The thing that stood out for me was there wasn’t any groups of kids on the team,” he says. “Everybody gelled. There was no arguing or bickering, the kids showed up and wanted to play baseball. We taught them what we could, and everything just came together.”
Tibbles says their success in West Hill was no accident.
The 9U team started the year with winter workouts in late-February to prepare for the regular season where they finished with a 7-2 record against 11-year-old house league teams.
After the Soo Minor Baseball season ended, the Black Sox ran additional practices off-facility throughout the summer to prepare for provincials. Leading up to the tournament, they were on the field three days a week with optional batting practices on Sundays.
“Since the end of league play, our team turned a page,” Tibbles says. “Those kids really learned how to play baseball.”
Their additional efforts in August ultimately helped pave the way to a provincial championship banner, which will now proudly hang at their home field.
The Black Sox have planned a team banquet and party to celebrate their historic win, capping off a beyond memorable season for the city’s youngest baseball rep team.
Players: Oliver Tibbles, Evan Hirvi, Jason DiAngelo, Jay Reid (defensive player of tournament), Tomas Peltonen-Boisvert, Elijah Day, Kohen Nasby (offensive player of tournament), Luca Chartrand, Cooper Cripps, Jax Palahnuk, Thomas Hirvi, Brayden Morley.
Coaches: Jordan Tibbles, Kirk Reid, Brad Chartrand, Bret Nasby, Ryan Palahnuk
Manager: Lauren Nasby