The Northumberland Jacks 13-and-under baseball team is on a roll with an undefeated record in Eastern Ontario Baseball Association league play and tournament victories on consecutive weekends, including the Expos de Lanaudière Nord showdown in Joliette, Quebec this past weekend.
The Jacks advanced to the championship final with wins over teams from Montreal, St.-Eustache and Quebec City before capturing gold with a 6-3 victory over Les Bisons de St. Eustache. The previous weekend, Northumberland won the Royal & Orange AA Classic in Milton.
Team members are Maeve Aird, Brechyn Aird, Spencer Harold, Trent Clow, Landon Lafontaine, Ben Partlow, Cole O’Leary, Ewan Dahle, Liam Garrard, Merrick Linn, Sammy Colaiezzi and Kieran Brown. The coaches are John Partlow, Bryan Harold and Shawn Lafontaine.
“There are many reasons for their success, but I would say it's largely down to them being very good athletes with excellent focus. The core has been together for years, and they play their best when the pressure is on,” said coach Partlow, noting they rise to challenges situations such as elimination games, provincial finals and more.
“They work really hard on fundamentals, and do everything the coaches ask and more. A lot of the success on the field is due to the hard work they put in at practice. They know to control what they can control and let the other stuff go.”
Thursday evening the 11-0 Jacks will host the Quinte Royals in EOBA action. Game time is 6:15 at Legion Fields.
