September 6, 2021

By Matt Betts

Ontario Terriers

Confident. Determined. Passionate. And now, champions.

Those are the four words Terriers 16U manager Ryan Pollard used to describe his group of players at the end of the Canadian Premier Baseball League playoffs this past weekend.

His squad went 4-1 to take home the organization’s first Canadian Premier Baseball League championship.

“It’s a special group,” Pollard said following the final out.

After winning their opener 7-2 over the Great Lake Canadians, the Terriers received a wake up call in the form of a 13-2 thumping at the hands of Team Ontario. Bent but not broken, they bounced back to down Watson Elite 22-12 and the Fieldhouse Pirates 12-1 to set up a winner-take-all contest with the Toronto Mets.

Behind a 3-for-4 game from Lucas Alberti, and a pair of hits each from Lucas Brown, Luke Connors, Jack Duggan, and Noah Konings, they ended their season with a 14-8 win and an on-field celebration.

Over the course of the five games, the Terriers plated 57 runs on 57 hits, with seven home runs. Three of those long balls were grand slams. Arguably the top performance of the tournament came from Jack Duggan when he smashed a pair of grand slams in the win over Watson Elite.

The strong offensive output should come as no surprise, as Pollard’s team hit .331 in 2021.

“Never in my coaching career have I seen an offence like this,” Pollard said. “They’ve been crushing balls all over the diamond the entire season.”

What made the victory even more satisfying for the skipper and his staff was the fact it didn’t matter who recorded the big outs on the mound, or who came through with the timely hits. It was all about the team and winning games.

“Everyone played a part in this championship run,” he said. “As a coach I couldn’t be happier with this group.”