Call them the ‘Cardiac Cats.’

Call them heart breakers and risk takers on the base lines.

Call them the Prince Edward County lumber company.

But make sure you remember to call them 2023 Bay of Quinte Champions.

The PECI Panthers Baseball team captured the BOQ championship in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, taking a pair of extra inning walk off wins to capture their first league title since 2019.

In the semi-final matchup against a plucky Eastside Ravens squad, PECI was able to cap off a comeback effort and bring home a run in the bottom of the 8th to advance 10-9 to the afternoon final against the St. Theresa Titans.

The Titans packed a wallop early and lead 4-0 after two innings but the Panthers were able to fight and claw their way back into the game and combine a little bit of rookie magic, fate, hard work and dedication into an 8-7 extra innings win over the visitors.

It was a day at Field of Dreams in Wellington that started cold and damp under a steady rain and saw sun break through the clouds as the Panthers were putting the finishing touches on a magical season that will now roll on to Monday’s Central Ontario championships in Cobourg.

“Overall, the fight and passion we had all day was incredible to watch and be a part of. It’s always tough to continue to fight back into games where you never really have a lead and it can be tough on teams to try and stay engaged when games seem to be slipping away,” Panthers coach Kyle Gould said. “However this team never quit and believed in each other all the way through as if they was never a doubt that we’d end up on top.”

The skipper admitted the club didn’t get off to a great start in the morning against the Ravens as hurlers Jack Martin, Mitch Sills and Kayden Insley battled the strike zone and the elements.

But the Panthers nickle and dimed the Ravens until Brody Partridge was able to crank a two out, three run double of the top of the fence and pushed PECI to their first lead of the contest. 

“Things were looking a little bleak for us in the 6th and we were able to string a couple key walks with great at bats to load the bases and then, Brody lifted the entire team spirits with his bases clearing hit. He is a hockey star (Partridge was drafted by the OHL champion Peterborough Petes in 2022) and picked up baseball like it was second nature. He is new to the game and has worked so hard. That hit literally changed our spirits and probably saved our entire season,” Gould said.

PECI was unable to close out the Ravens though as Eastside was able to regain the lead in the top of the seventh. 

PECI again tied the game and sent the contest to the 8th where ghost runner Grady Holmes was able to advance to third with two out.

Third baseman Liam Rice lined a base hit bullet to centre to plate Holmes and the Panthers punched their ticket to the finals, ensuring a COSSA birth by doing so.

In the final, PECI would once again be forced to play comeback and made things tougher on themselves by running into outs on third base.

“It felt like in the early parts of that game we were trying a little too hard and not sticking to our game and what we do best. We started to chip away and have smart at bats which we always excelled at,” Gould noted. “It showed and we chipped away. We were behind the whole game until we tied in the seventh with a bases loaded walk by Charlie Smith. All day he showed how talented of a hitter he is with timely hits and walks when we needed it most. Brody Partridge again had a great game at the plate.”

The hometown crowd built through the afternoon until there were over 100 fans lining the base lines and outfield fences.

The Panthers wouldn’t have been in a position to win without some great innings on the mound.

Insley came on to give the Cats three solid innings followed by Martin who fired his last inning of the day in a tie situation.

Then, the magic happened.

Freshman fireballer Ethan Thompson came to the bump in the seventh inning and mowed down the heart of the St. Theresa’s order. 

“Ethan has been a sneaky option for us here down the stretch and he went in for the 7th inning against their best hitters and escaped the inning masterfully,” Gould said.

Thompson was back out in the 8th inning and the Titans were able to score a go ahead run to make it 7-6.

In the home half of the 8th, Thompson would start on second and moved over to third on a passed ball. 

With runners on the corners, PECI was able to successfully steal a run and a couple of walks later,  Insley was dancing at third with the bases loaded.

The Titans came unglued for good on another passed ball as Insley scampered home and touched the plate to left PECI to an 8-7 win.

“I really couldn’t be more proud of this team and they really are truly special as a group and now we are becoming even more of a threat because they are starting to see how good they can be,” the coach added.

PECI head to Donegan Park in Cobourg Monday morning to play St. Mary’s in the COSSA semi finals. First pitch is 10 a.m