The Thunder Bay Blockheads 9U baseball team brought home tournament hardware for the first time over the weekend at the 2016 Vassar Cork Pine Invitational with a second-place finish. They were rained out from all games on Saturday and forced to play 3 games in cold and wet conditions on Sunday.

They started out strong shutting out a legends team from the Shepard area, 8-0, with strong pitching from Michael Kreis and finished by Grant Jarema. The Blockheads followed that with another strong effort against an Armada team, coming out on top 12-6 with Jase Kollen and Preston Schuldt pitching the final inning.

After that Thunder Bay’s bats cooled off and they failed to score in the final game against the Saginaw Bay River Dawgs in an 11-0 loss. This game ended up determining the tournament champion as their were three teams tied with a 2-1 record and the River Dawgs won by giving up the least amount of runs and this left the Blockheads in second place.

The offense was led by Jon Rensberry, Jase Kollen and Bryce Moe with four hits each and Connor Cameron who scored three runs. Every player on the team either recorded at least one hit or scored at least one run in a great team effort.

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The Thunder Bay Blockheads 13U baseball team moved up an age group for a weekend tournament, playing against 14-15U teams from around the state. The age of the competition didn’t stop the Blockheads from going 3-1-1 on the weekend, losing by a run in extra innings of the championship game.

Thunder Bay won its first game of the tournament 6-4 over Pigeon. Drew Seabase got the start and the win for the Blockheads striking out six of the nine batters he faced. Luke Tucker came in relief for the last two innings, working out of a bases-loaded jam to finish the game. Jack Schmanski and Hunter Canute lead the team on offense, both pitching in hits in the first inning to give the Blockheads the early lead.

Ryley Alrt led the way to a 8-2 victory against Grand Ledge in the second game, getting the win with three solid innings of pitching. Keegan Spomer picked up where he left off to close the game. Alrt, Alec Kent, Seabase, and Tucker all chipped in hits leading to RBIs.

Thunder Bay finished its first game against Vassar on Sunday with a 4-4 tie due to time restraints. Spomer had another solid performance, throwing three innings and striking out four. Charlie Williams finished the game, striking out one in an inning of work. Spomer was 2-for-3 with Canute, Williams and Tucker all collecting hits.

Seabase got the start in the semifinal game against Grand Ledge and helped the Blockheads to a 6-4 victory, striking out five in three innings. Williams also pitched in the final inning of the game, again registering a strikeout. Alrt led the offense, going 2-for-2 with three RBIs and scored two runs. Spomer, Canute, Tucker, and Wyatt Grant all had hits in the game.

In a championship game that went three extra innings, Alrt, Williams, Spomer, and Seabase all took turns on the mound, holding Vassar to four runs over nine innings in the 4-3 loss. Jack Schmanski and Seabase both had multi-hit games collecting RBIs. Williams, Alrt, and Spomer each added hits.