A gutsy performance from only nine players helped the A’s Midget team go 5 games undefeated and take home championship rings in the SOBA IHL Provincial Championship tournament in Belleville on August 6 & 7.

A close, well-played Saturday morning game saw the A’s start off their campaign with a 2-1 win over Tyendinaga. Later that afternoon the Annette boys continued their winning ways rolling over Mississauga Majors 15-0. Sunday started badly with the A’s falling behind their next opponents, Mansfield, 3-1 by the end of the 4th inning. However in what became their signature characteristic, Annette refused to stay down, battling back to capture their third victory in a row with a 5-3 final score. Then it was a waiting game to see who would end the qualifying round in first place. Annette and Prince Edward County looked as though they would be tied at the top of the ten-team group until a last minute rally by Vaughan resulted in a tie in their game with P.E.C. – and the A’s finished as first place qualifiers.

A mere hour or so later they were on the field fighting their way through a 10 inning marathon against that tough Tyendinaga squad they faced on Saturday. Thanks to some great pitching from Jamie Hatfield, who held Tyendinaga scoreless in the final five innings, and a superb bunt by Ian Johnson to bring in the winning run, our boys walked away 6-5 victors. That was the good news. The bad news was that the finals were scheduled to start in only 40 minutes, and Annette was running out of pitchers.

The championship game would pit us the A’s against former opponents Mansfield, a well balanced team with some aggressive hitters and strong pitching. The A’s started an off-speed pitcher, Andrew ‘Rubberarm’ Mcrae who did the job, leaving the mound after two innings with a 1 run lead. It was up to battle-weary ace hurler Paul Tymochenko to finish out the next five innings: a last stand for the A’s. Things looked bad when some solid work by Mansfield hitters combined with a string of uncharacteristic errors from a tired Annette team put Mansfield ahead 8-5 at the end of the third. It took a couple of more innings, but the A’s rallied with a run in the fourth and three more in the bottom of the sixth, while a gritty effort from Tymochenko held Mansfield scoreless in the final four. When all was said and done, an amazing effort from 9 never-say-die players allowed the A’s to snatch the provincial championship with a 9-8 victory.