Soo whips Sudbury in OBA opener

The Elks 341 Bantam Black Sox Selects couldn't have asked for a better start.

Backed by solid hitting, base running, fielding and pitching, the Black Sox cruised to a 22-4 mercy victory over Sudbury to open the Ontario Baseball Association Bantam A Championships on Friday night at Sinclair Yards.

Aside from the Bantam championships, the Soo Minor Baseball Association is also hosting the Mosquito A Championships beginning on Saturday.

Sudbury opened up an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning before the Black Sox rallied to tie with a run in the first inning and two more in the second.

In the home half of the third inning, the Sox opened up the game by putting eight runs on the board to take an 11-3 lead. After 11 more runs in the fourth to go ahead 22-3, the Sox held Sudbury to just one more run in the fifth to record the mercy win.

Jacob Lake led the Soo offense with four singles while Wyatt Curry added a double and two singles. Jeff McAllister, Andrew Lorimer and Kyle Leonard recorded two singles each.

For his three innings of work, Leonard recorded the win on the mound.

The game continued the locals hot streak over Sudbury this season. In five contests this season, the Black Sox have mercied Sudbury each time.

The Bantam division also saw a twist as the Brantford entry into the tournament failed to arrive in Sault Ste. Marie.

After giving Guelph a 7-0 forfeit victory, organizers were forced to rework the schedule on Saturday.

Sudbury will visit Guelph at 10 a.m. while the Soo will battle Guelph at 5:30 p.m. Sunday's championship game time has yet to be determined.

In the mosquito division, the Sports Gold Mosquito Black Sox Selects will meet Aurora in a best-of-five showdown for the provincial crown.

Game one begins on Saturday at 10 a.m. while games two and three follow at 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.

Games four and five will be played on Sunday, if necessary, at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Admission to the tournament is free. Sinclair Yards, the Soo Minor Baseball Association's field of dreams, is located on Black Road beside Strathclair Park.

PHOTO: Black Sox winning pitcher Kyle Leonard.