Retirements follow Thunder bronze

The Tecumseh Thunder didn't let the gut punch of losing 5-4 to Quebec in the semi-finals ruin what was a great showing at Baseball Canada's senior men's national championship tournament on their home field.

Tecumseh Thunder win national bronze

Roberto Duncan launched a three-run shot over the left field fence in the bottom of the 6th inning as the Thunder overcame a two-run deficit to win 3-2 over Alberta to claim the bronze medal.

"A couple of bounces didn't go our way but that rebound game after that loss, an hour later to get us going, it's tough," said Thunder manager Jamie Kell. "In 2018, was the same thing. Lost the semi. Had to go back for the bronze."

Tecumseh trailed 4-0 in the semi-final against Quebec but rallied to even the score in the 7th when Paul Lamantia drove a 2-1 pitch into the outfield. "I got a fast ball. Drove it in the opposite field gap and then I was standing on second base with three runs scored and next thing I scored. 4-4 ball game and we're in the thing."

The Thunder couldn't push another run across the plate as Quebec went to win the game and beat Saskatchewan 2-0 in the final to win gold.

"Tough afternoon," Lamantia told Powerplay Sports. "Not the way we wanted it to go down obviously but it was a special weekend. Good group of guys."

An hour after losing, Tecumseh found themselves down 2-0 to Alberta in the bronze medal game before rain delayed the game for over an hour in the 6th. The break may have been a blessing in disguise. When play resumed Roberto Duncan crushed his homer to secure bronze.

"We had to flip the page and we gotta finish hard," said Duncan whose team finished with a tournament best 5-1 record. "At the end of the day we got the bronze. We got guys are retiring and we're happy we were able to make this part of their retirement, a happy memory for them."

No sooner did the game finish, three retirements were made public. Ball park announcer Mark Knight shared with baseball fans at Bert Lacasse Park that coaches Terry Murphy and Dave Girard were retiring from the staff and that Lamantia had played his last game.

"All good things come to an end right?" said Girard who played for the club before turning to coaching. "It's time for the club to renew energy. Get different people in here. I've put a lot of years in. It's time for me go. They'll be fine. We'll still be around though."