2018 Major Rookie – ICBA Champions

The Major Rookie team entered the ICBA tournament in Kitchener as the #1 seed after finishing first in the regular season with a record of 16-3-1.  The first place seeded earned the Tigers a bye in round 1 of the ICBA tournament.  The boys played the fourth seeded, and very dangerous, Cambridge Cubs on Saturday morning.  In a back and forth game, the Tigers flexed their offensive muscle with a 15-7 win.  The win earned the Tigers a match-up with the second seeded Guelph Royals.  The game was delayed due to heavy rain, but the City of Kitchener staff and tournament organizers did a great job getting the field ready for the game to be played later in the day.  Waterloo came out hot and built up an early lead that they would not relinquish.  The game finished 11-3 in favour of the Tigers.

Waterloo drew Cambridge again on Sunday morning with a chance to eliminate the Cubs from the tournament.  Another hot start was the recipe for success for Waterloo as they built up a 5-0 led in the first inning and hung on for an 8-0 win.  Guelph took care of Kitchener in the other semi-final to set up a Guelph vs. Waterloo final in which Guelph would need to beat Waterloo twice to win the tournament.  Guelph came on strong and played the Tigers extremely tough.  Guelph held a 10-7 lead going into the bottom of the 7^th, but the Tigers did not give up and scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 7^th inning for a dramatic 11-10 come from behind win.

The coaching staff is extremely proud of the boys as they have competed hard all season long and are never out of any game.  Next up is the AAA OBA Championships on Labour Day Weekend in North Toronto.