“No matter how we did on the baseball diamond this tournament was very special because we were honoring Michael’s memory, which is very important,” said Eagles.
Kim was killed in November 2006 while walking home from school.
Battling the defending champion Lorne Park Spartans, the Bulldogs quickly found themselves behind the eight ball as Lorne Park scored 11 runs in the first couple of innings.
“We had a great first inning and the top of our batting order really came through which was great to see,” said Lorne Park coach Scott Price. “Rob Ruggiero was amazing and everyone followed his lead.”
The Bulldogs got their offense rolling early but couldn’t overcome the double digit deficit despite staging a rally in getting a 2 RBI hit from Michael Cardinale, and a run batted in from both Paul Cordi and Matthew Newton-Eusebio.
“We ran out of arms and some guys are pitching tomorrow for their elite teams,” said Eagles.
When the game was called after five innings, the teams gathered around home plate area where they shook hands and lined up as Michael Kim’s dad, John, presented the trophy.
“John is such a reserved person and he really appreciated everything and we’re going to continue doing this,” said Eagles.
Lorne Park's team, which also included close friends of Michael Kim, was also marking the loss of a classmate, on the first anniversary of the death of Manny Castillo, who was fatally injured during a rugby game.
onlinenews@mississauga.net
