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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, March 20, 2015 | 24 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" OMHA tourneys this weekend at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex Oakville is hosting a pair of Ontario Minor Hockey Association AAA championship tournaments this weekend at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. The minor atom and peewee tournaments will both began today (Friday) and conclude Sunday. In the minor atom tournament, the Rangers will take on the Barrie Jr. Colts (today, 8 a.m.), Niagara North Stars (today, 3:30 p.m.), York-Simcoe Express (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.) and Halton Hurricanes (Saturday, 6:30 p.m.) in round-robin play. The championship game is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday. The peewee Rangers will face Barrie (today, 1 p.m.), the Burlington Eagles (today, 6 p.m.), Quinte Red Devils (Saturday, 10 a.m.) and Niagara (Saturday, 6 p.m.) in their opening-round games. The final will be played Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Oakville also has a team at the OMHA minor peewee AAA championships at Burlington's Central Arena. The Rangers will play Halton (today, 11 a.m.), Burlington (today, 7 p.m.), the Richmond Hill Stars (Saturday, 8:30 a.m.) and Whitby Wildcats (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.) in the opening round, with the final scheduled for Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Midgets, minor midgets played last weekend Oakville midget AAA Rangers forward William Macqueen scored a tournament-high eight goals in four games, but his team was unable to advance beyond round-robin play at last weekend's OMHA championships in Whitby. Oakville posted an 0-3-1 record at the competition, its point coming in a 1-1 draw with the Richmond Hill Coyotes. The Rangers' losses came against the Brampton 45s (4-2), Whitby Wildcats (3-2) and Ajax-Pickering Raiders (7-4). The minor midget AAA Rangers went 1-3-1 at their OMHA AAA tournament in Belleville, bowing out in the semifinals. Oakville opened with a 1-1 tie against the North Central Predators, then lost 5-3 to the York-Simcoe Express, defeated the Halton Hurricanes 2-1 and fell 6-0 to the Quinte Red Devils. The Rangers were eliminated with a 4-1 loss to Halton, though their fourth-place finish guaranteed them a spot in the OHL Cup Showcase Tournament this week in Toronto. Jack Ricketts recorded a hat trick -- including two shorthanded markers -- as Oakville rallied for a 4-3 win over the North Central Predators yesterday (Thursday), improving to 1-2 at the OHL Cup. The Rangers, who lost 6-1 to the Don Mills Flyers Tuesday and 7-2 to the Waterloo Wolves Wednesday, will face the TPH Thunder today at 11:30 a.m. Loyola high school student Miles Gordon (left) and Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin await a pitch during the Jays' exhibition game against the Canadian national junior baseball team Sunday in Dunedin, Fla. | photo courtesy of Baseball Canada Local ball player goes up against R.A. Dickey by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor It might have been the first baseball game Miles Gordon played with the knowledge that his team wouldn't win. The Loyola high school student and his Canadian national junior teammates received the thrill of their baseball lives Sunday when they took on a Toronto Blue Jays split squad in an exhibition game at the Jays' spring training home in Dunedin, Fla. Canadians Russell Martin, Jeff Francis and Dalton Pompey all played in the game for the Blue Jays, and 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey was Toronto's starting pitcher. The Jays won the game, 17-3, but that didn't spoil the experience for Gordon. "I've been a Jays fan my whole life," said Gordon, an outfielder who is viewed as one of Canada's top prospects for this year's Major League Baseball draft. "You watch these guys on TV. Then you get a chance to play against allstars... like Russell Martin behind the dish. Hitting against R.A. Dickey was interesting, too, because not many people can say they've batted against a Cy Young winner." "People say a lot of different things about the knuckleball. His was like a whiffleball, the ball going side to side," Gordon added, referring to Dickey's signature pitch. "We just went out and had some fun with it. We weren't looking to hit home runs or even win. We just had fun and embraced the opportunity we were given." The annual game with the Jays was part of the junior national team's twoweek tour in Florida. Canada has also played against prospects from the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies organizations, as well as two games against a Puerto Rican squad. In an 11-10 win over Puerto Rico last Friday, Gordon contributed two hits -- including a run-scoring double -- and scored two runs. His other highlights include a sacrifice fly in a 4-2 victory over Puerto Rico, a single and run scored in a 4-3 loss to the Yankees, and a heads-up play to throw out a runner rounding first base, preventing a run from scoring in a 6-1 loss to the Braves. The national junior team is carrying 30 players on its roster during its Florida tour, which is part of Canada's preparations for the WBSC U18 World Cup this summer in Japan. "The roster max is 20 for that trip, so there will have to be some cuts," said Gordon. "It's natural for there to be some pressure (this month to impress), but it keeps you on your toes. You have to go out and work every day." Gordon originally began playing baseball as a nine-year-old with Oakville Little League. He switched to rep baseball with the Oakville Minor Baseball Association four years later, playing AA ball for two seasons and then AAA for the next two. Gordon joined the Oakville Royals (now Ontario Royals) elite development program in 2013 before moving to London-based Great Lakes Canadians last fall. His first experience with the national junior team came last October, when Canada played Instructional League teams at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando. Gordon will play NCAA Division 1 baseball for San Francisco, beginning this fall.