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September 9, 2026

The Port Lambton 16U Pirates were a perfect 5-0 at the Provincial Championship over Labour Day weekend.

The Pirates defeated Simcoe team 11-6 to capture the gold.

The 11-team tournament was originally scheduled to begin Thursday, but heavy rain left the diamonds in Petrolia, Courtright and Port Lambton too wet to play until Saturday.

Port Lambton opened with a 13-5 win over Orillia, followed by a 10-3 victory over Kingsville, before facing Grimsby in a memorable night game under the lights at Mackenzie Field in Courtright. With close to 100 Pirate fans cheering them on, Port Lambton defeated Grimsby 12-4 to advance directly to the semifinals.

The Pirates then faced Mitchell in what Coach Jack Lozon says was “a back-and-forth semi-final.” Down 7-4 in the fifth inning, Port Lambton chipped away at the deficit before completing the comeback with a walk-off hit which gave the Pirates an 8-7 victory, and sending them into the Provincial Championship game.

Port Lambton supporters filling the park for the final game and Jaxon Jacobs started on the mound for the Pirates. He went the full six innings, before Austin Lozon came in to finish the game. Port Lambton closed out Simcoe 11-6, securing the Provincial Gold.

The championship was the culmination of a remarkable season for a team that had been assembled in the fall of 2025. Head coach Jake Lozon approached Port Lambton about the possibility of 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 led by a group of new coaches. The team posted a regular-season record of 23-10-1 and a 12-3-1 tournament record.

The championship was particularly special for Lozon as it marked his final year as head coach in Port Lambton. He’d been behind the bench for 12 years.

After a season that brought together players and families from communities across the region, the Pirates finished with five straight wins, Provincial Gold and a championship which Lozon said provided the perfect ending to his coaching career in Port Lambton.

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