2012 Winner of the Dr. Anson Buck Award
2018 Elims - 4th Place
2019 Brampton Tournament Finalist
2019 COBA Playoff Finalist
2019 COBA MVP - Joe Ferreira
2022 Lakeside Tournament Finalist
2022 COBA ROY - Aidan Murphy
2023 Lakeside Tournament Finalist
2023 COBA Playoff Finalist
2023 COBA ROY - Alex Fascia
2024 Elims - 3rd Place
2024 COBA MVP - Victor Speciale
2024 COBA Comeback player - Dawson Fascia
2024 COBA Executive of the Year - Frank Fascia
A Proud member of the COBA "AAA" Major League since 2004
Welcome to the Elims
(2004, 2005, 2009-2024)
Having access to 14 seasons of Elims data allowed me to delve into it's rich history to uncover patterns, rivalries, and standout performances. Let’s explore this fascinating story further!
Based on the available records, here are some highlights from the Elims during the years from 2004, 2005, 2009-2024:
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Newmarket Hawks: 2024 will long be remembered for the Newmarket Hawks clinching the Ontario Men’s AAA Elims title by overcoming a collection of the toughest teams in the province. Their journey to the top was filled with impressive comeback performances, showcasing their resilience and skills.
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Team Stats: With all this data, you’ll have a comprehensive view of your teams' performance. You can analyze trends, compare win-loss records, and identify dominant teams across the past decade. Whether it’s consistent contenders or surprise upsets, the story lies within those numbers.
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Top Teams: When you break down the numbers the story reveals the top teams, Which teams consistently stood out? Were there any underdog stories or unexpected champions? Feel free to share more details—I’d love to hear about the teams that left their mark on the Elims! For those veterans, you will see games that will bring back memories, may it be a great comeback or a crushing defeat.
How has your team faired over the years?
Which team has eliminated you the most, and who have you eliminated.
Which league within Ontario has the best record since 2009.
No other province has to go through such a grueling process to get to the Nationals. Everything after the Elims is almost anticlimactic. If you need a reminder of how tough it is to get to the top read this article. Keep in mind that article was written ten years ago, but nothing has changed. It still stands true. Only the team names have changed.
I invite players, coaches, parents or girlfriends who have experienced the peaks and valleys of emotions at The Elims who wish to share their story, I will post them here. If you wish I can post it anonymously, otherwise provide your name, team affiliation and when you played or coached at The Elims, so we can expand on Southern Ontario's baseball history.
For most Ontario Senior AAA players this is the biggest ball tournament of their lives and I thought there should be a medium available to share its rich history. I have been able to track down scores going back to 2004 via the Windsor Star newspaper, so I would gladly accept any game results prior to 2009.
I have contributed the teams and their scores, so I'm hoping you can fill in the blanks with stories of those young men who played those games.
Thank you and enjoy
Elims Stories
By the Numbers
Since 2009 there have been 290 team visits to the Ellims. To display just how hard it is getting to the top I thought I'd share with you a few facts:
25% of those 290 visits left for home without winning a game. Two have gone home without scoring a run.
26% left with only one victory, but if that win was against one of the top teams they will go home with pride.
17% went home breaking even. Some might think 2 wins made the trip worthwhile..
13% left for home with a winning record of 3-2, feeling they are on the verge of competing with the big boys.
8% left feeling pleased with their 4-2 record, knowing they are on the right path. A little tweaking should fix it.
4% were extremely pleased with their 5-2 record, but it left them wondering what if.....
2.4% left feeling frustrated knowing they were good enough to win that championship, but 6 wins is still not enough.
3% of the teams knew they had the horses and as expected, are the only team to finish the tournament without 2 losses. It takes 7 (6 minimum) wins to take the title. There are no underachievers in this lot.. It's in their DNA to win this tournament, and that leaves the rest of the province scrambling to improve. An Elims championship team once had a pitcher who tossed 3 complete games. They do whatever it takes to win.
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Leaving in Style - 1998
Windsor Stars manager goes out a winner
BY: JIM PARKER
Windsor Star article
Ron Smith has waited a long time for this moment.
The 47-year-old Smith has managed area senior baseball teams for 25 years, but for the first time he is manager of an Ontario senior championship squad.
Smith’s Windsor Stars club is in Weyburn Sask., today and this weekend will attempt to give the veteran manager his first Canadian senior baseball championship.
“We’re going to win the gold and I can’t see why not’” Smith said.
“I’ve always said the hardest part is getting out of Ontario and we’ve done that now.”
The championship will also bring an end to Smith’s managerial career.
He served as manager of the Windsor Athletic Association from 1973-92 and then moved over to the Stars in 1993. This year marked the fifth time he had taken a team to an Ontario final, but the first time his squad emerged victorious.
“The guys were really giving it to me on the way back (from the Ontario championship in Nepean).” Smith said. “They said if I would have done this 10 or 15 years ago, it would have made life easier.”
As his team celebrated an 8-7 win over Etobicoke in the final, Smith stood solemnly in the third base coaching box.
“I was happy, but not overwhelmed like I thought I would be, “Smith said. “It brought back a lot of memories of close calls. It was a couple of days later when I got back and looked at the medal that it hit me.”
And now that he’s at the Canadian championship, Smith plans to go out his way.
Each provincial champion is entitled to add a few players from across the province to the roster, but Smith will not.
“I’m going to do something I always said I would,” Smith said. “We went to the final (and Lost) in ’75, I said then it would be nice to take a team that was just Windsor ballplayers.
That is what will be in Weyburn to compete against the best from New Brunswick, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nove Scotia and Manitoba.
“You look at our lineup and we have guys who are hitting seventh and eighth who could hit third or fourth on a lot of teams,” Smith said.
And the squad is loaded with pitching. Left-handers Dave Tramontozzi, Chris Lewis and Craig Cope are complimented by right-handers Adam Echlin, Frank Hreljac and Jeff Jones, who has returned from Canada’s National team. It gives Smith a solid chance for a national title.
Source – The Windsor Star - Wednesday, August 19, 1998 – Page 34
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Rangers Repeat
The Etobicoke Rangers won the Metro Toronto Major senior men’s baseball championship for the fifth time in seven years when they spanked the North York Shooters 12-2 to take the best-of-seven final four games to two.
Joe Jurus, who played five different positions in the series for the Steve Breitner-managed team, was playoff MVP.
Look for the Rangers to move to the Central Ontario senior league in 1998.
Source – Toronto Star – October 1, 1997 – Page 12
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Old-style baseball returns - 2002
Windsor, Tecumseh, Woodslee to host Ontario tourney
BY: JIM PARKER
Windsor Star article
Traditional baseball is back.
The aluminum bats have been put away and wood bats will be mandatory for the Ontario Senior Elimination Tournament, which runs Friday through Monday in Windsor, Tecumseh and Woodslee.
“You see a lot more stealing and lot more bunting with the wood bats,” Tecumseh Thunder manager Marty Deschamps said.
You didn’t do that with the aluminum bats. You waited for the home run. Now, you just want to try and get a guy to second so he can score with a single.”
It was the long ball that helped Tecumseh take last year’s provincial tournament with an 8-3 win over the Windsor Stars, who won the Canadian Senior Championship in 2000.
This year; the game has changed.
“We play in a little smaller park in Tecumseh, so our home runs are probably half of what they were last year from maybe 30 to 15, “Deschamps said. “You really notice when you get to (Soulliere Field and Cullen Field at) Mic Mac Park. They have bigger dimensions than some Major League fields.”
And the Stars who play most of their games on those two diamonds, have really noticed a difference.
“Last year, our team batting average was around .300 and, this year, we’re maybe around .240. “Stars manager Keith Sanford said, “Last year we averaged about 10 runs a game and, this year, we’re about four. We had 51 home runs going into the Ontarios last year and, this year, we have five. Steve Krsul led the team with 11 last year and he’s got two now.
Aces in the hole
So, like any good team, the Stars have concentrated on putting together a starting pitching staff that’s going to make life tougher for the opposition.
“I think we have pitching depth this year,” Sanford said. “I think I’ve got five guys on the staff that can beat anyone in the province. Out team ERA (earned run average) is 2.40 and we’ve got five guys with an ERA under two.”
Pitching is huge in this tournament with the winner potentially having to play seven games in four days.
“We had 11 guys last year and we used them all,” Deschamps said.
“That’s how we won it. This year we’ve got nine, so we’re in a little tougher.”
The Stars and Tecumseh are two of the big contenders for the title with Etobicoke, Leaside and Northumberland also a threat for the title.
Source – The Windsor Star – Thursday, August 1, 2002 – Page 49 & 50
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Brampton Royals - 2018
On July 13, 2018 Mike Burke’s Brampton Royals beat the best team in our league. Etobicoke were cruising through their 18-3 season with a perfect home record until Brampton soundly beat them 9-3. It was one of Mike’s best games ever, 132 pitch, CG 9 innings with 9 strikeouts and 0 earned runs.
At the 2018 Elims Mike faced Etobicoke again in their second game. The Royals came out on top 18-4. It was a lot of work for Mike as he threw 4 innings allowing 3 earned runs, but still earned the win, while riding on the coattails of his teammates hitting.
The plan after the game between he and coach Flannagan was to skip a couple of games in the tournament before throwing again. Knowing he wasn’t going to pitch he and Joe Ferreira decided to go fishing by the Detroit River till 1 AM.
The next morning, while he stopped at the store loading up on water for the team for what he hoped would be a long day at the diamond, he got a call from Steve Hough asking where he was, because he was slated to pitch that morning. Uh, oh, a change in plans. He raced to the diamond and parked right beside the dugout. He had to get someone to park the car for him because he only had 18 minutes (it’s usually an hour) to warmup for one of his most important games ever. Everything he did to get ready for the game would be out of his normal routine which he's repeated for the past 20 years. During the warmups opposing teams always check out to see which pitcher they will be facing. I wonder what Etobicoke was thinking when they didn’t see anyone warming up on our side for the longest time. They must have been licking their chops watching all of this ineptness.
Although Mike didn’t have time to warm up properly, or even eat, he owned the bump and threw the best 5 innings of his life. After the second inning he told the coach Flannagan to get someone warmed up because he was done, but his team started scoring and so he thought he could tough it out. He would lie under a nearby tree and try to relax between innings to get out of the 33-degree heat. They mercied Etobicoke 10-0 in 5 innings. He threw a CG 3 hit shutout, on the leagues biggest stage.
The Royals ended up finishing 4th at the Elims, Senior AAA baseballs Provincial Championship. It was the best Brampton had ever done which will served them well in prepping for 2019.
P.S.
There is no malice or disrespect intended with each of these victories, you must realize to beat the Rangers we have to play an extraordinary, errorless game, which in itself is worth celebrating. No one disputes that the Rangers are the face of COBA and have been for a long time, but that's not to say the other five teams will stop trying to knock them off that pedestal. That’s the challenge the Royals have accepted and thrive on besting the best. It serves to make us a better team and make COBA a more competitive league.
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