By: Matt Betts
It’s been quite the start to the tournament season for the Terriers organization.
On the heels of punching a ticket to the Baseball Canada National Championship by winning its Road to Okotoks regional qualifier, the 16U team claimed the Perfect Game Canadian National Championship.
The tournament opened with a thriller, as the Terriers plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh to escape Game 1 with a 7-6 win versus the Great Lake Canadians.
Game 2 saw the team take a 6-4 victory over the Ontario Blue Jays.
A 6-3 win against the Mississauga Tigers, 11-0 loss to Team Ontario and 7-6 victory over the Ontario Kobras set up a championship showdown with the Ontario Blue Jays.
Tied 4-4 heading to the bottom of the seventh, the Terriers scratched across a run for a walk-off victory.
Head coach Scott Ballantyne called the tournament “unique,” as it featured comeback wins and an overall negative run differential for his team.
“The biggest key to success was our belief in each other and the never give up attitude,” Ballantyne said.
“The team knows they’re never out of any game and they battle together until the last out.”
Ballantyne credits the attitude to extensive mental skills training done in the offseason. Controlling things they can control, confidence and each player understanding their role is all part of the focus.
He said a win of this calibre can only help confidence, but wants his team to avoid becoming complacent simply because they won one tournament.
To combat that possibility, the 16U coaching staff has created the 4.2 per cent mindset. With 19 players and five coaches, if everyone does their part it adds up to 100 per cent and will lead them to more success than failure, Ballantyne believes.
Combined with the Road to Okotoks qualifier win, the Terriers are at the forefront of baseball in Ontario.
“The past two weekends show the Terriers organization is doing a lot of really good things with player development and overall team development,” Ballantyne said.
“There are a lot of outstanding programs in Ontario that are developing really good players and I think the results these past two weekends show the Terriers definitely belong in the conversation with the top programs in the province.”