1st row (left to right - players) Parker Hitz, Louis Gagnon, Jackson Mousseau, Emery Tavarez, Anthony Vallières, Antoine Archambault. 2nd row (left to right) Henry Tavarez (Coach), Jonathan Hitz (Coach), Joey Mousseau (Head Coach), Luka Frost, Diego Saavedra, Frank Larouche (Coach), Olivier Larouche, Alain Gagnon (Coach) and Vincent Pellerin. Absent from photo: Coach Emilio Saavedra and Theo Papineau (Player)
The Bulldogs Bleu of Aylmer U11A Baseball Team are Provincial Bronze Medalists
Baseball Quebec’s U11A Provincial Championships were held September 13th – 15th in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, where 16 regional champions in the province competed against one another for a spot on the podium. Our Outaouais region was represented by the Bulldogs Bleu of Aylmer, who won their regional playoffs on August 25th.
On Friday, September 13th, the Bulldogs won their first game vs Les Jays Sud de la Beauce (Québec Region) with a final score of 7-5, and in doing so, earned the right to then play against the Valleyfield Reds (Lac-St-Louis Region). Our 2nd game Saturday afternoon didn’t quite go as planned and the team suffered a 6-1 loss. But the team regrouped and were ready to play their 3rd game of the tournament Saturday evening under the lights vs the host team Les Bombardiers Rouge de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (Rive Sud Region). The bats came alive, and we won this “must win” game by a score of 13-6, earning a spot to play in the Bronze medal game on Sunday morning vs Les Panthères Ahuntsic-Cartierville (Montreal Region). As was the case throughout our entire season, the boys played their hearts out and ended up convincingly winning the game 6-0, shutting out their competition and earning their provincial medal they so rightfully deserve. An overall record of 3-1 at a provincial tournament is truly no easy feat.
Though we did not succeed in obtaining that precious gold medal, we are returning home with a strong third place finish and the respect of other baseball associations in the province. This is quite an accomplishment when considering that there is a total of 145 U11A teams in the province.
To all the parents, grandparents, siblings, coaches but most importantly, the players, thank you for trusting the plan and the process, putting in the work and allowing our family to be a part of your summer, which provided all of us with memories and friendships that will certainly last a lifetime.
Earl Weaver, a hall of fame MLB manager who coached the Baltimore Orioles for over 17 years once said: “Baseball is a symphony. Each player is a note, and together they create music”. Contributions to a team’s success come in many ways (e.g. a hit, a performance on the mound, a catch in right field, scoring the winning run, cheering on your team, etc.). Baseball is indeed a symphony, and well this summer, the Bulldogs Bleu of Aylmer U11A baseball team put on a musical performance for the ages. One which I will cherish forever.
With much love,
Coach
