Six teams from across Ontario participated in the three-day event at Millgrove Park. The Wolves were seeded in a pod with the Brantford Chiefs and the Vaughan Vikings. The second pod was seeded with teams from Martingrove, Guelph and Milton.

The Wolves played their first game Friday evening against the Brantford Chiefs. They scored two runs in the first inning. The Chiefs were held to just one run of their own in the bottom half, thanks to a tough Wolves defence. After tight defence on both sides in the scoreless second inning, the Wolves' bats came alive to put nine runs on the scoreboard. The Chiefs answered back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, and again for four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but the charge was halted by the Wolves infield. Justin Coles, Chase Bradshaw and Jacob Cooper drove in runs to lead the Waterdown offence and Casey Gillis and Will LaChance each drove in two runs. Lucas Parsons and Zach Doxey batted in three runs each. The final score was 13-8 for the Wolves.

Also on Friday, the Guelph Royals were pitted against the Milton Select team. The lead was traded back and forth a couple of times during the match. Then, late in the game, the Royals added four runs to the scoreboard to clinch the win over Milton, 14-10.

Play continued at 9 a.m. Saturday, with the Vaughan Vikings taking on the Martingrove Express while Brantford met the Royals. Both games were value-packed both offensively and defensively. Martingrove defeated Vaughan 23-4 and Brantford defeated Guelph 4-2.

Waterdown and Milton took to the field at 11 a.m. The defence on both sides controlled the game, holding each team scoreless until the top of the third inning. Then the bats of the Wolves ignited. The Wolves went through the entire batting order to earn eight runs on 10 hits before being stopped by the Milton defence. The Wolves continued at the plate when they returned in the top of the fourth, adding four more runs on eight hits. Milton was retired in the bottom of the fifth inning, ending the game by mercy rule. The 12-0 win earned the Wolves their second victory of the tournament and a position in Sunday's quarter-finals.

Play on Saturday also included the Brantford Chiefs against the Vaughan Vikings. The game got under way at noon and both teams battled into the bottom of the fourth inning with the Chiefs in firm control with a 10-3 lead. Then the sky darkened and intense thunderstorms moved into the area. Lightning, heavy rains and hail halted play on both diamonds for safety reasons. The diamonds were submerged by the downpour and play was delayed for two hours in the hope the storm would move through. But the rain continued, causing tournament play to be suspended until 10 a.m. Sunday.

Play resumed with the Milton Select team facing the Martingrove Express. The game went the entire seven innings, with the lead bouncing back and forth. The game ended with the Martingrove team on top 17-14.

Martingrove went on to play the Guelph Royals to determine the quarter-finalists of the second pod. Both teams made some great plays both in the field as well as at the plate. The game was decided in the final inning with a walk off the field single that scored the winning run for Martingrove.

The Wolves ended round robin play undefeated, securing first place. They played the Royals in the 1:30 p.m. quarter-final round, while Martingrove faced off against the Brantford Chiefs.

After the first two innings, the Wolves had scored eight runs on 12 hits, while holding the Royals to two runs on six hits. The Wolves added three more runs in the fifth inning to secure the win. The final score was 11-5 for the Wolves, who advanced to the championship game. Martingrove defeated the Brantford Chiefs by a score of 8-6 for a berth in the final at 5 p.m., while Guelph challenged Brantford for the consolation title.

The Wolves took an early lead, scoring four runs on eight hits and silencing the Martingrove offence until the bottom of the second inning. Then the Express came back with five runs on eight hits to take a one-run lead. Martingrove added two more runs in the third inning and one in the fourth before the Wolves rallied back to tie the score at eight runs each. Both teams had strong fifth innings with the Wolves scoring six runs and Martingrove seven runs.

The Wolves went into the top of the sixth inning trailing by a score of 15-14. They scored a run to tie the game but in the bottom of the inning, they gave up a run - and the lead - to their opponents.

The Wolves gave it everything they had in the top of the seventh, but were unable to get a runner across home plate. The final score was 16 -15 for Martingrove.

The Wolves finished the tournament with a 3-1 record and took home the tournament finalist title. The consolation round was won by the Brantford Chiefs, who defeated the Guelph Royals, 8-3.

The Wolves thank all who came out to support them in spite of the inclement weather, including Ron Kitchen, who stepped in to assist the Wolves coaching staff and Jodi Doxey, for managing the concession booth.

The Wolves have applied to and are looking forward to competing in the Select Provincial Championships during the Labour Day weekend.

-Submitted by David Doxey