Stingers are Provincial Champions

Five years ago a small group of Mosquito players traveled down south in an attempt to win a provincial title. Both times as Mosquito age players they never even won a game. In their Peewee years they achieved success placing 4th and runners-up the past two years. In their first attempt at the Bantam level the North Bay Stingers finally struck gold.

For the second straight year the Stingers started the tournament with a loss in the modified 12-team double knock-out tournament. Last year, they proceeded to win five straight games before bowing out to Ancaster in the final. This year they started the tournament with a tough 6-4 loss to the Mississauga Majors. The Stingers struggled all game committing numerous errors and stranding runners on base. The Stingers wasted a fine pitching performance from Miguel Champagne, Jake Tougas and Dale Valade to put themselves behind the eight ball early in the tournament. Tougas and Champagne led the way with 2 hits each.

In their second game they came out strong and defeated West Hill from Toronto 11-1. Champagne pitched a complete 4 inning mercy game to pick up the win. Tougas and Jeremy Poeta led the way with 2 hits each. Valade, Thomas Hamilton, Joey Puddister, Champagne, Matt Blanchfield and Nick Scott had 1 hit each.

In their third game the Stingers defeated Georgina 7-1. Valade started and pitched well striking out 8 and allowing only 1 run over 4 innings. Tougas completed the final 3 innings allowing no runs and striking out 3 hitters. Matt Blanchfield and Dale Valade led the way with 2 hits. Ryan Scott, Tougas, Puddister, Nick Scott, Chris Kangur and Champagne had single safeties for North Bay.

On Sunday, the Stingers were forced to play 3 games to try and make it to Monday's final. First of all they defeated a very strong team and tournament favorite Brampton Red Sox 8-3 in their next game. Valade and Tougas combined on a gem holding a strong line-up to 2 runs. The Red Sox came out flying against Valade and scored 2 runs in the first. Valade quickly shut the door to allow the Stingers to heat up offensively. The Stingers used small ball by inserting speed in their line-up allowing them to score on defensive mistakes. Chris Kangur , Joe and Jeremy Poeta created havoc utilizing their speed to ignite the Stinger attack. Joey Puddister, Joe Poeta, Ryan Scott and Valade had 2 hits each to pace the attack. Blanchfield, Nick Scott, Tougas and Jeremy Poeta had 1 hit each.

Tougas completed the final 3 innings holding the tough line-up to only one through the final 3 innings.

After resting one game the Stingers hit the field for back to back games beating Aurora 10-5 and Quite 21-5 to claim a berth in the final against Mississauga. In the game against Aurora the Stingers once again started Valade and fell behind quickly 2-0, but rallied for 2 runs in the 4th to tie the game at 2-2. The Stingers blew the game open with 2 in 6th and 6 runs in the 7th to take a 10-2 lead. Tougas who took over from Valade in the 5th pitched well but struggled in the 7th. Champagne retired the last
2 outs to preserve a 10-5 victory. Tougas had a perfect day at the plate with 2 hits and 2 walks. Joey Puddister , Joe Poeta, Miguel Champagne and Jeremy Poeta had 2 hits each.

The Stingers then handed Quite a crushing defeat by literally hitting the cover off the ball and winning in convincing fashion 21-5. In defense of the team from Belleville their pitching staff was dealt a severe blow losing their #1 pitcher the game previously. The Stingers scored early and often in this game scoring an amazing 12 runs in the 1st inning. Champagne went the distance on the mound to earn the victory. Tougas had a perfect day at the dish with 3 hits and a walk. Champagne also had 3 hits while Ryan Scott, Chris Kangur , Jeremy Poeta, and Joey Puddister each contributed 2 hits each.

In the Championship game the Stingers had to face the Majors from Mississauga. The Stingers quickly jumped all over the Majors scoring 5 runs in the 2nd inning. Walks by Jeremy Poeta, Matt Blanchfield, Thomas Hamilton and Joey Puddister enabled the Stingers to score. Tougas was hit by a pitch to score another. The turning point came when Valade sent a rocket to short and the shortstop threw it away to enable the Stingers to open a 5-0 cushion. The Stinger held a 7-3 lead in the 7th when Thomas Hamilton belted a bases loaded double to clear the bases and gave North Bay a comfortable 11-3 lead. Valade was masterful in his 4 inning stint allowing only one run on 3 hit while striking out 8 batters. Jake Tougas pitched the final 3 innings to preserve the title allowing only 2 runs.

Tougas led the way at the dish with an amazing .711 on base percentage.

Valade was stellar on the mound pitching 17 innings over the weekend allowing 6 runs while striking out 32 batters.

The season caps off a dream season which saw the Stingers win 4 tournaments and a provincial title. Special thanks go to all the parents who have given strong support to the program over the years. The coaches would like to thank the NBBA and Tammy Walters for their outstanding support over the years.

The Stingers would like to thank sponsors such as North Bay Toyota and Wingate Lotteries for their financial assistance. A very special thanks goes to our major sponsor Blanchfield Roofing whose financial support over the years has been instrumental in our team's development and success over the past 5 years.

Submitted to BayToday.ca