U9 AAA Tigers Triumph as Champions, Striking Out Cancer at the First Inaugural Pink In The Park Tournament
/The U9 AAA Peterborough Tigers took home the gold at the first inaugural Pink In The Park tournament for breast cancer research at Bowers Park; organizers raising over $5,000 this past Saturday and Sunday.
the Tournament Champions, the aaa u9 tigers. photo by cole designs.
15 teams were apart of the tournament from the U8, U9 and U11 baseball divisions, and Peterborough played against athletes from across Ontario to raise funds and awareness for Metastatic Breast Cancer Research.
“Our U9 AAA defeated Markham Mariners 15-8 in game one, then defeated North Toronto in game two. We went on to play The East York AAA Bulldogs in the semi-finals and beat them handedly,” said U9 coach Mike MacNamara. “The championship game was between us and North Toronto. We were down one run with two outs, (and) Jack Leddy scored the tying run off a hit from Emerson Birkhof. Owen Philips hit a double to score Birkhoff for a walk off win the final inning to win the whole tournament.”
the u8 team. photo by cole designs.
the u11 team. photo by cole designs.
Pink In The Park was inspired from Chris Hinze and his fundraising efforts for his late wife Melissa Hinze through Hockey Battles Cancer.
“Seeing first hand the success and how Pink In The Rink was received in the hockey community, I felt that it would be a great opportunity to carry that into the baseball world,” said lead organizer Dan Perilli, who has kids on both the U8 and U11 teams. “Having Cole Designs create a logo, I began branding and organizing how we wanted this event to look, feel and bring awareness to such an important cause. Many of us are touched or know someone who has been touched by this disease, so we are committed to continuing this event to knock cancer out of the park.”
The event included a barbecue, silent auction, ‘Strike Out Cancer’ hats and t-shirts for sale and a weekend of baseball fun for the young athletes who participated.
