Beamsville Yellow Jackets Win Dave Leach Memorial Tournament in Port Lambton

A franchise in the middle of just its second full season now has three championships to their name. After taking home A OBA’s in Thorold and being crowned NDBA Champion’s last season, the Beamsville Yellow Jackets were able to pull out another win this past weekend in Port Lambton.

Beamsville defeated the Wyoming Cattlebarons 5-1 in a weekend where they were forced to play six games in two days due to inclement weather on Friday. The Yellow Jackets (11-0) got their revenge on Wyoming and secured the championship after losing their first game of the season to the Cattlebarons in the second game of the tournament.

Matthew Porkolab pitched the best game of his young Senior Baseball career allowing three hits, 2 walks, and one unearned run, striking out two over five innings. Alex Davy and Tyler Rose had gutsy performances over the weekend, each closing out the final two innings of the championship game after throwing in multiple of the previous games.

Davy threw a complete game in a 13-1 mercy against the Corunna Giants to lead off the tournament Saturday morning. He allowed one run on three singles and a hit batter, striking out nine over six innings. After a relatively low pitch count in game one, Davy came back for two innings in game two, and wanted the ball again for the Semi Final matchup against the Tecumseh Thunder. He settled in after allowing two runs in the first, striking out three over six innings of work. Jordan Young closed out a 6-2 win after starting the second game of the tournament, giving everything he had for his ball club as well.

After going 1-1 to begin round robin play, Beamsville needed a win against the Chatham Diamonds to secure their spot on Sunday. It was an interesting game to say the least with a 13-10 final and low visibility to end things as nighttime skies approached quickly at a field with no lights. The Yellow Jackets turned to rookie Caleb Burleigh for the start, who had a solid outing but was the victim of some unfortunate luck. As a result, Beamsville was forced to go to Sunday starter Tyler Rose for the final four outs of the ballgame. Rose looked dominate after limited pitching appearances in league play, giving his team confidence for the next morning.

Rose threw a complete game against the Port Lambton Pirates in the quarter final game on 100 pitches. He allowed one run on six hits and two walks, striking out eight batters over seven innings. Rose also had two hits in the ballgame, hitting nearly .500 for the weekend.

Highlighting some other key performances from the team, Evan Arnold and Zach Moyler had break out performances playing unbelievable defence in the field and hitting solid at the plate. Gabe Knox did an excellent job patrolling center and leading off in place of league MVP Tyler Wood stealing eight bases. Erik Williston and Dave Knaus both hit above .500 splitting the catching duties, and team veteran Zac Decker has still got it in his age 40 season.

Beasmville will return to the area at the end of the summer, with their sights set on winning AA OBA’s hosted by Wyoming. They are looking to keep their undefeated streak in league play alive this weekend, hosting the Fort Erie Cannons at Lions Park this Friday. First pitch 7:30 pm.