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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, August 11, 2016 | 32 Kevin Nagel Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports C O B A c "Connected to your Community" h a m p s Oakville A's preparing for annual peewee tournament at CNE By Kevin Nagel Beaver sports editor The Oakville A's peewees open the tournament Aug. 19 vs. Niagara Falls The Oakville A's peewees of the Central Ontario Baseball Association are one of 32 teams set to battle for the 60th annual Lions-CNE Baseball Tournament title later this month. The A's, a Tier 2 AA team, will be facing a mix of AA and AAA competition at the CNE event, set for Aug. 19-Sept. 5. Oakville, by luck of the draw, will be playing in the opening game of the tournament against Niagara Falls, one of the few teams to defeat the A's this year. "We didn't show up for that one," said team manager Dale McMenemy of the earlier setback, "but we'll be ready for them this time." The tournament, employing a single knockout format, is the oldest and most prestigious event of its kind in Ontario for 12- and 13-year-olds. The A's opener in Toronto, coincidentally, lands on the same date as the A's first provincial qualifying contest on Aug. 19. Luckily, the CNE game is at 10 a.m., while the qualifier doesn't start until after the dinner hour. Both tournaments are important to peewee players. The winner of the provincial qualifier advances to the Ontario championships in Brampton on the Labour Day weekend. The A's, coached by Jamie Podovinnikoff, have a COBA league record of 17-2 and have won one of three tournaments this season, making the semifinals in another. While the team has plenty of arms to call on, four are exceptional hurlers and righthander Jacob Yoo may be the most effective, gaining plenty of strikeouts this year with an effective curveball. McMenemy is a bit modest when describing his son's contribution to the team. "If he's not the heart of the team," he says about James, "he's the loudest on the team." Leftfielder Lucas Cipolla has slammed two home runs this season, rare for a peewee player, while second baseman Alex Gaudet and shortstop Christian Stefan anchor the infield. This group of kids won a league title last year but didn't make it through the provincial qualifiers. No bench, no bullpen With just nine players available for each of four games last weekend, the Oakville Junior A's captured a second Central Ontario Baseball Association championship in the past three years. The A's won all four games with the small roster size, including Sunday's clinching 11-5 victory over the Burlington Bulls. On Saturday, after beating Mississauga North 8-2, the A's twice defeated the MNBA Tigers-2, 4-1 and 10-0, to advance to the finals against the Bulls, who would have to defeat Oakville twice to win the COBA title. Greg Barbuto was slated to worked three frames and finished the game at first base, unable to throw to a base if needed. With Oakville trailing 5-1, the sole graduating A's player, first-baseman Blake Donaldson, took over and pitched two shutout innings, despite forearm tightness. The A's took a 7-5 lead in the fourth as Donaldson ripped a two-run single to left, then handed the ball to Barbuto who overcame knuckle issues to grind out two shutout innings. Donaldson moved to second base and ended up stepping on the bag for the final out in his final game -- and he was the winning pitcher. Catcher Troy LaCoste, Don- Members of the Oakville Jr. A's include (front row, from left) Troy LaCoste, Blake Donaldson, Robbie Cant and Vic Christiansen; (back row) coach Mike Nightingale, Kyle Carey, Ben Donnell, Dan Ohorodnyk, Austin Gerow, Greg Barbuto, Tyler Rymal, coach Richard Griffin, Matt Scanzano and Dr. Jeff Smeaton. | photo by Lucy Donaldson -- Special to the Post Oakville A's win four games with nine players to take COBA Jr. title aldson, shortstop Robbie Cant and centre fielder Vic Christiansen were the only players in their usual positions during the four games. Pitchers Austin Gerow, Tyler Rymal and Barbuto all pitched and played positions. Gerow slammed his first junior home run. Also in the weekend player mix were Daniel Ohorodnyk, Kyle Carey, Luke Whitehouse and Matt Scanzano. Not available for COBAs, but big contributors to a firstplace 18-3 regular-season record, were Ryan Kosmynka, Mitch Over, Cam Cook, Danny Roderick, Alex Fulton and Alex DeVos. start versus the Bulls but the knuckle on his right hand was swollen. Ben Donnell stepped up, describing his arm as feeling "mint" despite 68 pitches the day before. He worked two shutout innings, then hit a wall. With everyone on the field, nobody could warm up. Donnell Lakers edge Rock 14-12 at TRAC The Peterborough Lakers picked up a 14-12 road win over the Oakville Rock in Game 3 of a Major Series Lacrosse best-of-seven semifinal playoff series on Monday. The Lakers now lead 2-1. Adam Jones and Mark Steenhuis each had four goals for the Lakers, Jones adding two assists as well. The Rock led 2-0 early but the Lakers fought back with six straight goals. Evan Kirk made 46 saves for the Lakers in the win. Nick Rose and Steve Fryer split the duties in Oakville's net. Wes Berg led the Rock with two goals and four assists. Games 4 and 5 are in Peterborough tonight (Thursday) and Saturday, Aug. 13. Game 6, if necessary, will be at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville on Monday, Aug. 15.