The Port Lambton 16U Pirates capped off their season by going a perfect 5-0 at the Provincial Championship over Labour Day weekend, defeating Simcoe 11-6 to capture gold.
The 11-team tournament was originally scheduled to begin Thursday, but heavy rain left diamonds in Petrolia, Courtright and Port Lambton too wet to play, pushing the start to Saturday and the semifinals and championship game to Monday.
Port Lambton opened with a 13-5 win over Orillia, followed by a 10-3 victory over Kingsville, before facing Grimsby in a night game under the lights at Mackenzie Field in Courtright. With close to 100 Pirates fans cheering them on, Port Lambton defeated Grimsby 12-4 to advance directly to the semifinals.
The Pirates then faced a tough Mitchell team in a back-and-forth semifinal. Down 7-4 in the fifth inning, Port Lambton chipped away at the deficit before a walk-off hit gave the team an 8-7 victory, sending it into the championship game.
The final against Simcoe featured a large turnout of Port Lambton supporters, with tents set up around the field, music playing and a canteen operated by volunteers. Jaxon Jacobs started on the mound for the Pirates and went the full six innings before Austin Lozon came in to finish the game, as Port Lambton closed out Simcoe 11-6 to secure the provincial gold.
The championship capped a season for a team that was assembled in the fall of 2025, when head coach Jake Lozon approached Port Lambton about forming a 16U team.
“We knew of eight players that wanted to play,” Lozon said. “We just needed to get five or six more and we would be good.”
Players from Dresden, Wallaceburg, Blenheim, Bothwell, Shetland, Sarnia, Brigden and Port Lambton came together to form the 2026 Pirates, along with a group of new coaches. The team posted a 23-10-1 regular-season record and a 12-3-1 tournament record, with all three of its tournament losses coming in championship games at the Mitchell May tournament, the St. Thomas tournament in June and the London tournament in July, where the Pirates faced A and AA competition.
For Lozon, the championship marked his 12th and final year as head coach in Port Lambton, capping a season that brought together players and families from communities across the region with five straight wins and provincial gold.
