After having 19 teams make the trek to Windsor in search of an Ontario Men's AAA National Qualifier Title, Championship Monday only had three of those teams left looking for proivincial glory on a beautiful sunny day for baseball at Rev. Ronald Cullen Stadium at the Mic Mac Sports Complex. 

In the National Qualifier semi-final, it was two provincial powerhouses as the Tecumseh Thunder locked horns with the Sarnia Brigade as the Windsor Stars (undefeated bye) waited in the wings for the winner of this game. Both team came out the gates hot in this one as the Thunder plated a pair of runs in the top of the first inning on an RBI single off the bat of Cam Goddard followed by a bunt single from Eric Cunningham which plated another run for an early 2 - 0 lead. 

The Brigade, not phased, answered back with three runs of their own in the home half of the frame as they got an RBI ground out from 2B Cooper Clark followed by back-to-back RBI singles from Blake Butler and Alex McLean to claim a 3 - 2 lead after an inning of play. The pitching took over after that for a bit as Tecumseh southpaw Taylor Pappin and Sarnia RHP Cole Brydges traded scoreless frames through the next three innings. 

In the top of the 5th, the Thunder were able to tie this game up at 3 - 3 and once again it was the veteran Cunningham who came through in the clutch as his RBI single cashed in Cam Goddard who doubled in the at bat before him. Sarnia would take the lead for good in the 6th as back-to-back singles from the duo of Butler and McLean would leave runners on the corners for the Brigade and it was Butler who would score on a passed ball in the next at bat to give Sarnia the 4 - 3 victory in a very entertaining game. 

The Tecumseh offense showed up in this one as they pounded out 15 hits in this game but were unable to get the big hit when they needed it. Cunningham lead the way going 3-for-3 with a walk and a pair of RBIs. Fellow veteran Cam Goddard was 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI while SS Dan Warkentin and 3B Roberto Duncan were also 2-for-4 with Warkentin scoring a run. C Noah Ruttle was 3-for-4 with a trio of singles while CF Myles Miller was 2-for-3 with a run scored. DH Keegan Knowler wrapped up the offense with a single. 

For the Sarnia club, 3B Blake Butler led the way at the plate going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, a run scored and an RBI. RF Alex McLean was also 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and an RBI while 2B Cooper Clark had an RBI groundout and came into score after reaching on a fielders choice. LF Hank Vandermeer was 1-for-3 with a run scored while CF Logan Buntrock was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. DH Kyle Moloney was also 1-for-2 with a walk while SS Carter Aarts wrapped up the Brigade offense for 1-for-3 with a single. 

On the mound, it was an epic pitchers duel between Taylor Pappin of the Tecumseh Thunder and Cole Brydges of the Sarnia Brigade as both hurlers went the distance in the game for their respective teams. For Brydges, who picks up the win, he allowed three runs (all earned) while scattering 15 hits over his seven innings of work walking one and striking out four. For Pappin in taking the loss, he allowed four runs (all earned) on eight hits while walking two and striking out two in his six innings of work. 

This set up the Championship Final between the Sarnia Brigade and Windsor Stars. The Brigade have been a mainstay appearing on Monday at this tournment four of the last six years and winning it all in 2019. For the Stars, they are a team that has been around Monday at this tournament many times and won it all in 2022 & 2023 also collecting a National Title in 2022 in Sydney, Nova Scotia. 

It was the Sarnia Brigade jumping out early in this game as they were once again able to put up three runs in the bottom of the first inning as they used a pair of balks from Stars starter Matt Ward as well as a sacrifice fly to take the early 3 - 0 lead. After a scoreless 2nd frame, the Windsor bats woke up in the 3rd inning as they plated seven runs that inning getting RBI hits from Jeremy Orton, Noah Renaud and Colin Robinson and was capped off with a 3-run HR from Josh Hudvagner. 

The Brigade would get a run back in the 4th on an RBI single from Alex McLean to cut the lead to 7 - 4. The Stars would get that run back in the 5th inning as Mitch Hudvagner clubbed a single to right field scoring Carter Reh to extend the league back to 8 - 4. Sarnia would keep chipping away though as they would get a pair of runs in the bottom of the 5th inning on a two out, 2-run double from Keegan Brandon which cut the lead to 8 - 6.

Windsor would tack on a run in the 6th inning courtesy of an RBI double from Noah Renaud and added another run in the 7th inning on an RBI double from Alec Boucher to extend the lead to 10 - 6. 22U call up Michael Grodin Jr would work around a couple of hits in the final frame to shut the door and lock up the Men's AAA National Qualifier Championship for WIndsor with a 10 - 6 final score. 

Offensively for the Stars, they collected 11 hits on the day and were led by 1B Josh Hudvagner who was 2-for-4 on the game with a 3-run HR and a triple scoring twice and collecting three RBIs. DH Colin Robinson was 2-for-2 with a run scored and a pair of RBIs while RF Noah Renaud was 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. C Mitch Hudvagner was 1-for-3 with with a run and an RBI while 3B Alec Boucher was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, a runs scored and an RBI. CF Jeremy Orton was 1-for-2 with an RBI while Carter Reh was 1-for-4 with a double and a pair of runs scored. 

For the Brigade, they also collected 11 hits in this game and it was RF Alex McLean leading the way going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, a run scored and an RBI. 1B Keegan Brandon was 1-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBIs while DH Kyle Moloney was 1-for-3 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. 3B Blake Butler was 2-for-3 with a pair of singles while 2B Copper Clark was 1-for-3 with a run scored. CF Logan Buntrock, LF Hank Vandermeer, and SS Carter Aarts were all 1-for-4 in the game with a run scored while C Brennan Healy was 1-for-2 to wrap up the Sarnia offense. 

After the tournament, Carter Reh was selected as the CABC Baseball Tournament MVP (see photo above). The veteran infielder for the Stars had a great weekend playing in all six games going 7-for-21 for a .333 average with two doubles, four runs scored, seven RBIs and four stolen bases helping to propel a potent Windsor offense throughout the tournament.  

For the Windsor Stars, the National Qualifier Championship is their 3rd in five years and will now earn them a trip to the Canadian Men's Championships in Chatham, New Brunswick from August 20th - 23rd. They will play in Pool B and face Team British Columbia (Victoria Mavericks), Team Alberta (Red Deer Riggers), Team Saskatchewan (Regina Trappers) and the defending national champions Team New Brunswick (Charlottetown Islanders). Tehy will open their tournament at 10:00am local time on August 20th against the Islanders at Ironmen Park.