Video – Photo Gallery – Port Hope Flyers Capture Ontario Baseball Association Senior C Championship
Jeff Gard/Today’s Northumberland
The Port Hope Flyers baseball team put an end to a long provincial championship drought this past weekend and did it in front of their hometown supporters.
Hosting the Ontario Baseball Association senior C championship tournament, the Flyers went undefeated through their first four games of tournament before ultimately defeating the Clarington Cubs in a two-game showdown in the finals at Port Hope’s Town Park diamond. The tournament featured games in both Port Hope and Cobourg.
For the Flyers, the championship marked their first OBA title since 2009.
“The OBAs have been a bit of a dark cloud for us the last several years, given our performance, so finally winning was a sense of relief along with joy,” said Flyers manager Brendan Tink, who was joined on the bench by Luke Leoen. “Our team has ages 19 to 50 so for some this was their first baseball related championship and others who have played longer were starting to think it may never happen. We put in the bid to host for the last four years to be able to have this moment at our home diamond and share it with the Port Hope community, family and friends.”
The Flyers opened the tournament with an 8-6 victory over the Essex Yellow Jackets before defeating Clarington 6-4 and the Clarksburg Blues 12-8.
That gave Port Hope a 3-0 record heading into the semifinals, where the Flyers once again faced Essex and came away with a 4-1 win.
Tink said the opening game of the OBA tournament has regularly been a major obstacle for Port Hope. Since 2017, the Flyers have struggled to get deep into the championship tournament, which uses a double-knockout format. Teams must lose twice to be eliminated, meaning a Friday night loss can leave a club facing elimination for the rest of the weekend.
In recent years, Port Hope was often eliminated by Saturday morning.
“Historically we have struggled getting the first win on Friday night so when we did that against a strong Essex team it lifted that weight off our shoulders and we could see our potential,” Tink said. “From there we just played game by game knowing that if we could keep the game close our bats would overpower the other teams.”
Port Hope’s 2021 tournament had been its best recent finish, when the Flyers lost to Clarington in the semifinals.
This time, the two teams would meet again with a championship on the line.
Port Hope entered the final undefeated and needed just one victory to claim the title.
Clarington, having already suffered a loss, needed to win twice. The Cubs took the first game 5-2, forcing a deciding championship game.
“When we lost to Clarington in game one of the finals, it was a wake-up call in a good sense as we realized we had to make some improvements, but there was a calm for most of us,” Tink said. “That game we hit a lot of hard balls, but just at them, so we didn’t have the feeling like we were being beaten by a stronger team, just a little unlucky. We all said we earned the right to have to be beaten twice so there is no need to panic. Having a group with experienced players who know how to read the clubhouse and keep a level head was important in that moment. We all believed we deserved to win given the way we played up until that point. We were short on pitchers, but knew in a single elimination game it’d be all hands on deck. The only thing we changed was wearing our black jerseys versus red, which we wore up until the last game, in typical baseball suspicious fashion.”
The Flyers responded by winning the final game 6-5, securing the provincial championship on their home diamond.
The title was the culmination of a season in which Port Hope focused on changing the way it approached the game.
“Before the start of the season we wanted to make changes to our style of play, how we approached the games and overall culture of the team,” Tink said. “We added a lot of talented young players while keeping our core veterans knowing that roster depth would be needed in a long season and the OBA tournament.”
Tink said the team emphasized aggressive baserunning, moving runners forward, putting the ball in play, sound defence and taking easy outs from the beginning of the season.
“What made the above work is that all the players on the team bought into this concept and prioritized wanting to win versus caring about individual stats or amount of playing time,” Tink said. “The group truly wanted to win for one another and accepted their role during this weekend. For example, we had multiple situations where we had the ability to use pinch runners to avoid double plays or going first to third. Subbing punch hitters if there was someone needing a break or using a lefthander pinch hitter knowing a ball to the right centre gap can score runners from first.”
The approach produced strong offensive numbers throughout the season. The Flyers hit 12 home runs as a team, with eight different players going deep, while six players finished the season with batting averages of .400 or higher.
The defence was equally important during the championship weekend. Port Hope turned seven double plays and one triple play during the OBA tournament.
Tink credited the entire roster for the championship, particularly the way the players came together during the final game.
“This championship was by far a complete team effort and we are proud of how everyone played and came together as a group,” Tink said. “Many of us acknowledged that was one of the most enjoyable baseball games we have ever been a part of with the atmosphere and intensity.”
The Flyers also received strong support throughout the weekend from the local community.
“We had amazing support from people all across Port Hope and Northumberland, whether in person or interacting online with our social media accounts,” Tink said. “It was really nice to see the turnout we had at the ball diamond on the weekend, especially for the championship games. Many people there were ex-players, family and friends so special to have shared that moment with them. The chants of ‘lets go Flyers’ are something many of us won’t ever forget.”
Tink also thanked the Municipality of Port Hope, saying municipal staff did a great job preparing the diamond and worked hard in the week leading up to the tournament to ensure the field was in excellent condition.
The championship roster included Hunter Baker, Dawson Baker, Connor Turland, Brady Strachan, Luke Kirkey, Robert McNab, Owen Sheppard, Walker Mckelvey, Nathan Watson, Tyson Robinson, Koltyn Latour, Wayne Feltham, Michael McNaught, Nicholas Kentner, Brendan Tink, Luke Leoen, Matthew Vrooman, Mike Smith, Mason Dunn, Ben Deboer, Skyleuir Coote, Kelly Durack and Griffin Judson.
