It was a grind, but the Tavistock Merchants did what they often do this time of year.

The U23 fastball team, in its 11th straight appearance at the men’s national championships, earned silver at the 2025 tournament in Kitchener.

“Of course we were gunning for gold, but this year there were probably five or six teams who all had a really good shot,” Merchants head coach Kevin Zehr said. “We had to work very hard to get to the gold-medal game, and then we just fell short.”

Connor Brooks hit a pair of solo home runs in Tavistock’s 3-2 championship loss to the Toronto Jr. Batmen. Two of Toronto’s runs came after leadoff walks, and the Jr. Batmen also hit a solo blast.

Tavistock went 5-4 overall. The Merchants rallied from a loss to Saskatchewan in the opener to beat Quebec, Shallow Lake, N

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