St. Marys Minor  Baseball Association is hoping to host more and more tournaments here, but the Cement Peewees weren’t very nice to their guests this past weekend, marching their way through five consecutive decisive victories to win their third consecutive WOBA title, and improving their overall season record to 34 wins, just two losses and four ties.
On top of that, they did so without one of their top players, Nate Smith, who has been sidelined for the past month with a knee injury.
The champs have three practices scheduled for this week, and will resume play with a double-header in Wyoming on Sunday night, followed by another double dip in Stratford on Monday and a possible exhibition game next Wednesday, all leading towards the  Ontario Baseball Association (OBA) provincial championships on Labour Day Weekend.
The Cement Peewees became the first St. Marys baseball team in 50-plus years to win a provincial title last year in Orillia, and they did so playing two divisions up. Due to the Stonetown’s population, St. Marys is classified as a ‘D’ centre. However, in 2009, the team chose to play up at the ‘B’ level, taking on teams from centres with populations of 25,000.
In two weeks, they are going to step it up another notch, attempting their fate at the ‘A’ championships versus towns of 50,000.
“Sooner or later, we’re going to get our lunch handed to us, but if we don’t push these kids to the highest  level of competition they are capable of playing, then we’re remiss in our commitment to them as coaches,” said Tom Valcke, who was absent this weekend as he was chairing the National Midget championship being held in London.
“At this age (12-13), our job is to develop these players, not to go the easy route and put trophies on  their dressers,” added Reid Dundas, who managed the team over the weekend with coaches Ian Moore and Steve Keeler.
“The St. Marys fire truck ride, the ultimate honour for sports teams in this town, is always top-of-mind with these kids, and they know that to even have a chance at that, it will require them to play their very best baseball in Niagara  Falls,” Moore noted.
Gold-medal final
In the gold-medal final played at the Hall of Fame’s Rotary Field Sunday afternoon, the Cement Peewees jumped out to a 3-0  lead in the top of the first inning, gave up that lead in the second, but put up a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth on their way to an 8-5 win over Exeter.
The score was deadlocked 5-5 at one point.
Starting pitcher Jaxon Valcke and Zack Jacobs singled in the first, and were driven home by Liam Kelly’s triple to deep right field. Jules Herrell then singled home Kelly.
Herrell and Hayden Moore singled to lead off the fourth, and were brought home by a Brady St. Louis single and Sam Thorup’s groundout to second.  Catcher Trent Dundas and Valcke scored on Jacob’s hard-hit, two-run double to left in the fifth. 
Herrell singled to lead off the sixth, advanced on Brock Jeffrey’s grounder, and then scored on a St. Louis smash that tangled up the first baseman.  The final run was scored by Dundas, who crossed the plate following hits by  Jordan Keeler and Rhett O’Hara.
Kelly, St. Louis and Jacobs closed out the game with mound duty.
St. Marys had beaten Kincardine 17-10 on Friday night, Flesherton 27-2 and Exeter 8-3 on Saturday, and Listowel 9-7 on Sunday morning in the semi-finals.
But while their bats have done most of the talking all season long, it was  the pitching depth combined with defence and execution that coach Reid Dundas credited in summarizing the weekend.
“We know we are going to put runs up on the board, but the fact that we were able to put 11 different  pitchers out on the mound this weekend separated us from the pack going into  Sunday,” Dundas pointed out.
“And defensively, we found ourselves defending just about as many scoring situations as we posed against our opponents, but the difference was that we executed what we have been practicing all season, and found our way out of jams.
“I feel it will be our defence, not our offence, that will determine our fate in Niagara Falls.”
Note: Owen Sound defeated previously undefeated Centre Wellington in two straight games on Sunday night to capture the Peewee Tier II title.