The Fort Frances Cubs finished with a hard-fought 2-1 record at the Fort William Nationals junior baseball tournament over the weekend in Thunder Bay.
The Cubs were one of 16 squads, made up of players aged 13-14, to compete in the four-day event.
Cubs’ manager Clint Barton said he was pleased with his team’s play given their relative inexperience competing at tournaments.
“A lot of the guys haven’t played a lot of tournament ball,” he noted. “They played really, really, really well. It was a very good weekend.”
The Cubs had opened play Friday night with a narrow 10-9 loss in extra innings to the Current River Americans.
But the team bounced back Saturday afternoon with an 8-7 win over the Fort William Americans to even their record at 1-1.
The Cubs then faced an excellent Port Arthur Nationals team, and for the second time in three games found themselves in a tightly-contested game that required extra innings.
The Fort Frances squad maintained their composure and came away with the impressive 6-5 victory.
But despite posting a winning record over the course of their three tournament games, the Cubs did not advance to the next round, thus ending their weekend.
Besides competing in various tournaments around the region, the Cubs play each week in the 13-14 division of the Fort Frances Little League against three other teams—one from town and two from the district.
Barton said there also are plans to compete in some exhibition games later this summer against several American teams in the region.
The Cubs will get their next taste of tournament baseball June 23-25 across the river in International Falls.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
