REP > Oakville 12U ‘AA’ Top TP 12U ‘AA’ 8-6 in 2025 Stouffville 12U ‘AA’ Tournament Championship Game

THE ATHLETICS PREVAIL OVER TORONTO PLAYGROUNDS FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZE AT MEMORIAL PARK

Tournament Post composed with files and pictures courtesy of Matt Marstrom.

Beneath a serene ceiling of blue and cloudy skies, the Oakville 12U ‘AA’ Athletics prevailed 8-6 over Toronto Playgrounds 12U ‘AA’ this evening at Memorial Park to win the 2025 Stouffville Baseball Association 12U ‘AA’ Tournament Championship Game.

Trailing 7-1 after four innings of championship play, Toronto Playgrounds refused to go quietly into the night as they commenced clawing themselves back into the game.

With determination, TP rallied back with a run in the fifth and three more in the sixth to trim the gap to 7-5.

Down 8-5 in the bottom half of the seventh frame, TP scored a run to cut the shortfall to two. With two outs and runners on third and second base, TP’s comeback bid fell a tad short as they were unable to cash in on the opportunity to bring their potential tying runs home.

“It was a phenomenal effort from our players.”, said TP 12U ‘AA’ Co-Head Coach Matt Marstrom, in an exclusive postgame interview with the TPBA Website following the championship game. “They didn’t give up when down early.”

When asked for his philosophical insights about the team’s mana, TP 12U ‘AA’ Assistant Coach Julian Lorenzo said, “Who are you when things aren’t going as you’d hoped? How do you rebound from adversity? TP on 3 all day, every day!”

Despite falling short of their ultimate goal, TP 12U ‘AA’ nevertheless had a fun and rewarding experience by finishing as the finalist at the Stouffville tournament.

With rain on Friday resulting in the postponement of all games on the first day of the tourney, Stouffville tournament organizers were forced to recalibrate the weekend schedule. With the semi-final elimination round of the tourney cancelled, only the top teams finishing atop their respective pool groups (Pool A and B) would advance to the final round.

TP 12U ‘AA’ began its journey at the tourney early on Saturday morning when they played to an 8-8 draw against the Richmond Hill 12U ‘AA’ Phoenix.

Trailing 5-2, TP stormed back to tie the proceedings in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Keying the rally were respective singles by Dylan (8) and Avi (2), and a groundout by Hudson (18).

After Richmond Hill took a 6-5 lead in the top half of the sixth frame, TP answered back in lickety-split fashion in the bottom portion of the inning to take a 7-6 advantage. TP was the beneficiary of a pair of Phoenix errors that brought home the tying and go ahead runs.

With Richmond Hill taking a 8-7 upper hand in the top of the seventh inning, Toronto Playgrounds replied with a run in bottom of the inning to deadlock the affair at 8-8.

After the dust had settled, both TP and Richmond Hill settled for a tie in their first pool game at the Stouffville tourney.

Following a seven hour layover before their next pool group game, Toronto Playgrounds resumed play on Saturday evening with a contest against the Whitby 12U ‘AA’ Canadians.

Taking no prisoners, TP staked themselves to a 6-1 lead after two innings of action versus Whitby. Leaving the Canadians in the rear view mirror, TP rolled to a 9-3 triumph to earn their first victory at the tourney.

In a solid 5 1/3 inning outing, Ellis (44) earned the win for TP 12U ‘AA’. The gifted southpaw stymied Whitby by surrendering only three runs; five hits; while striking out three Canadians.

With a ticket to the final round on the line, Toronto Playgrounds faced the Barrie 12U ‘AA’ Baycats this morning in their third and final pool group game.

Deadlocked at 3-3, TP took the bull by the horns in the bottom of the sixth inning and broke open the tight affair by scoring four runs to take a 7-3 plurality.

Refusing to throw in the towel, Barrie answered back with a three spot in the top half of the seventh frame to trail by one.

With two outs and TP hanging onto a slender tenderloin 7-6 lead, Bear (13) utilized a great back pick to third base to end the game!

Finishing with a not too shabby 2-0-1 pool group record, TP 12U ‘AA’ punched its ticket into the championship round, with a showdown against Oakville 12U ‘AA’ for all the marbles.

The Toronto Playgrounds Baseball Association (TPBA) wishes to congratulate Co-Head Coaches Matt Marstrom and Jordan Pettle; Assistant Coaches Dan Kuchar; Julian Lorenzo and Jeff Vila; Team Manager Sami Kuchar; and the players of the TP 12U ‘AA’ Rep Team for their finalist showing at the 2025 Stouffville 12U ‘AA’ Tournament.

The TPBA also wishes to commend all the TP 12U ‘AA’ coaches, players, parents and family members for representing the core values of TPBA program with honour, dignity and professionalism both on and off the diamond at the weekend Stouffville tourney.

WAY TO GO, TP!