After a two year hiatus due to the COVD-19 pandemic, Sr Baseball is once again starting to run their annual tournaments throughout the summer months. Last weekend, the Lakeside Tigers held their tournament for the first time since 2019. The champions that year....the Tecumseh Thunder. Fast forward to 2022, different year with the same result. 

Mind you, in 2019, the Thunder ran the table going 5-0 to catpure the Lakeside title in style with a win ovr the Ilderton Red Army (now River Hawks) in the tournament final. This year they encountered a few bumps on their way to the title.

In the round robin, Tecumseh dropped their tournament opener to a very strong Strathroy Royals club by a score of 9-8. Needing a pair of win for a chance to advance to the playoff round, the Thunder delivered with a 7-5 win over the Brampton Royals and followed that up with a 2-0 win over the 2019 Provincial Champs the Sarnia Brigade. 

Based on their record, Tecumseh won their division but was the 3rd seed heading into the playoffs. Their opponents for the semi-finals was the always tough Milton Red Sox. These two teams once again, delievered an excellent ball game but a complete game gem by veteran hurler Brandon Lindquist propelled the Thunder to a tough 2-0 win. He tossed a complete game shutout scattering nine hits and striking out five Milton batters.

The Thunder bats could only muster four hits in this contest. Dimitri Bertoni led the way going 2-for-3 with an RBI while Patrick Kibble was 1-for-3 with a run and produced the other RBI. Paul Lamantia had the other Thunder run while Eric Carducci was 1-for-3. 

This set-up the tournament final where Tecumseh would once again lock horns with division mates the Brampton Royals again. With the game tied 1-1 after two innings, the Thunder brok this one open with nine runs in the third frame and rode that lead to a 10-1 victory and the 2022 Lakeside Tournament Title. 

Micah Harris was the beneficiary of all the offense as he also spun a complete game gem going the full seven innings allowing one run (earned) on five hits. he walked no one and struck out six. Lamantia was the big stick in this one going 2-for-2 with a walk, an HBP, a run and three RBI. Eric Cunningham was was 1-for-2 with an HBP, a sac fly, two runs and an RBI while Cam Goddard was also 1-for-2 with a walk, an HBP, two runs and an RBI.

Congratulations for the Tecumseh Thunder and Head Coach Jamie Kell on another very successful run in London. Here are the full results as well as the final standings for the tournament:

https://cobamajorbaseball.com/teams/default.asp?u=COBAMAJORBASEBALLLEA&s=baseball&p=custom&pagename=2022+Lakeside+Tournament+Results