The North Bay Mosquito Stingers were dumped 8-2 by the Sudbury Shamrocks in the final of a four-team mini Northern Ontario tournament which took place this weekend at Lennox Field next to Armstrong Park in North Bay.
Despite the crazy weather on Friday, Mother Nature cooperated on the weekend as the Stingers finished with a 2-1 record on Saturday as they opened with a 10-7 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Black Sox in the morning then defeated the Valley East Voyageurs 6-2 before dropping a close 9-7 decision at the hands of the Sudbury Shamrocks.
The 2-1 record allowed the Stingers to advance to the semi-final as the #1 seed as they faced the Voyageurs in the morning semi-final. Despite falling behind early the Stingers battled back to defeat the Valley East squad 10-7 to move into Sunday’s final.
Marshall McCharles got the win Sunday morning pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief. Beau Herron scored two runs and added a pair of singles while Caleb Dawson contributed two RBI’s along with a triple.
In the final, the Shamrocks jumped up on the Stingers early and Sudbury starter Ethan Morris was next to flawless as he did not allow a Stingers hit through his four innings of work.
"Unfortunately, we ran into some very good pitching in the finals which made it difficult to get much going offensively. We will continue to work on the fundamentals as we prepare for the Valley East tournament in 2 weeks time,” said Stingers Head Coach Kurtis Herron.
“Our team battled hard all weekend and found ways to push back when they had their backs against the wall in close games. Thank you to the teams who attended this weekend and our excellent Manager Rod Sinclair who organized this great event.”
Peewees advance
Meantime, in Sudbury, the North Bay Peewee Stingers qualified for provincials today thanks to a 17-12 win over Valley East Sunday afternoon.
