Jeff Gard/Today’s Northumberland
The Northumberland Jacks 9-and-under team is aiming for a second straight Ontario Baseball Association championship, though a year older in a new age bracket and at a higher level.
Northumberland captured the Eastern Ontario Baseball Association 9U AA championship last week in Clarington, winning twice on the final day of the double-knockout tournament to claim the title. The Jacks defeated Ajax 10-9 and 13-9 to be crowned the EOBA champion.
Coach Brent Booth said the group is predominantly made up of players who won the OBA provincial championship at the 8U A level last year. After that success, the team made the jump to AA for the 2026 season.
Team members are Archer Amos, Lucas Bonner, Easton Booth, Colton Darrington, Tate Ferguson, Benson Flay, Benj Heffernan, Harry Huffman, Everett Laliberte, Dominic Popovici, Beau Smith and Andrew Urbach. The coaches, in addition to Booth, are Tyler Ferguson, Nick Laliberte, Grant Hefferan and Scott Huffman.
Booth estimates the Jacks’ record at 34-8 this season. Northumberland won its home tournament in Baltimore, reached the final of a tournament in Caledon and lost in the semifinals in Brantford. The Jacks also competed in an Oshawa AAA tournament, finishing 2-2.
The team’s memorable experience from last year’s provincial championship extends beyond winning.
“It was an awesome crowd that came out, especially on the Sunday when we had the two games…lots of support, it was really cool winning it in Cobourg,” Booth said.
This year, the Jacks will have to travel for their provincial championship, with the 9U AA OBA tournament taking place in Cambridge from Thursday through Sunday.
Winning the EOBA championship last weekend was a significant accomplishment, particularly because the Jacks did not have to qualify for the provincial tournament last year as the host team.
Now, they enter the OBA tournament as one of the teams looking to contend for another provincial title.
“A lot more competition,” he said.
Northumberland opens Thursday night against the Mississauga Majors, a team Booth expects to provide a strong early test. Other contenders could include teams from Richmond Hill, Markham, Newmarket, Waterdown, London, Waterloo and Ajax.
“Realistically, Northumberland is actually a B-centre for baseball so we played up last year in A and then made the jump to AA,” Booth said. “The younger teams are doing very, very well. I think it’s just a lot to do with the development that’s been going on in Northumberland Baseball and the growth in baseball.’
He credits his players’ enthusiasm for the game as a big contributing factor to their success.
“The 12 kids we have absolutely love baseball. We’ll practice for two hours on a mid-week night and they will stick around for another 45 minutes to play – they call it sandlot baseball. They play with passion and they seem to rise to every challenge we’ve ever given them.”
Booth is also hoping the new group of 8U Jacks gets to experience the same kind of support his team received last year as they host an OBA championship this weekend at Legion Fields (see separate story on the 8U AA Jacks).
“I can’t say enough about the support we got last year,” Booth said.
