Westmount beats Ancaster in 15 innings for boys baseball title

The Westmount Wildcats squeezed out a thrilling 1-0 championship victory in a 15 inning marathon over the Ancaster Royals at Mohawk Sports Park on October 25, 2016 (Photo Credit: Gord Bowes – Mountain News)

It took 15 innings to settle it, but the Westmount Wildcats claimed their first ever Hamilton public school boys baseball championship earning a 1-0 victory over the Ancaster Royals on Tuesday afternoon at Mohawk Sports Park.

Westmount’s Jacob Miller scored the game’s only run on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Reilly Rutgers with one out in the 15th inning.  Rutgers was credited with the game winning RBI on the walk off play.

Brody Harris got the 15th frame rolling for the Wildcats hitting a leadoff double with Miller replacing him on the base path. Miller would advance to third base on a ground out setting up the the winning squeeze play.

The championship game was mainly a battle of pitchers with both teams having limited scoring chances and just a handful of runners making it into scoring position all game.

The Wildcats have appeared in three city championships in the last four seasons and made four trips to the final overall. Ancaster topped Westmount in two of those meetings (2015-16 and 2013-14) while Saltfleet claimed the title in 1998-99.

Westmount cruised through regular season play earning a 6-0-1 record to earn the top seed. Their only hiccup was a 4-4 tie with second place Dundas Valley in the opening game of the year.  The Wildcats were also the the best defensive team in the league giving up a mere 10 runs.  They advanced to the championship with a 10-0 semifinal win over Waterdown.

Ancaster finished third in the regular season with a 5-2 record and qualified for the final by claiming a 10-0 quarterfinal win over Nora Frances Henderson and a 10-4 win over Dundas Valley in the semi-final last week.

Up next, Westmount will break for the winter and then represent Hamilton at the SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary School Association) held this coming May in Niagara Falls.  The winner from SOSSA will qualify for OFSAA which is held in early June.