By Edward Stepanian

Following the 2007 season, the bantam ball club re-tooled and added players from the house league division to make a charge for the Ontario Baseball Association’s A division final this year.

After a first-place finish in the regular season, the team was knocked out of the York Simcoe Baseball Assocation championship in three games.

But it had bigger fish to fry.

Entering the final weekend of the season, the team had one goal in mind: getting to and winning the provincial championship.

The started the tournament with a thrilling 5-4 win over the Martin Grove Express.

However, the team suffered a heartbreaking 12-11 loss to the Peterborough Tigers.

The loss put the Phoenix into the losing bracket of this double knockout tournament.

Richmond Hill never lost its focus as the Phoenix rebounded to clobber Niagara Falls 10-3 to set up a rematch with the Tigers.

This time, the Phoenix exacted revenge with a 21-4 pounding of the Peterborough club, including an inside the park homerun by Kam Lew.

Up next was the undefeated London Southwest team, which Richmond Hill dumped 14-4 to earn its second consecutive berth in the provincial final.

Against Guelph, the bats remained hot as the Phoenix captured the title with a 14-4 victory.

Although the sweet taste of victory is still with the Phoenix, plans are already under way to defend the title.

The team promises to continue developing a strong team and is holding tryouts this week.

For more team information, go to www.richmond hillbaseball.com