Amid the start of the Gustafsen wildfire, the local 100 Mile-N-Hour U12 fastball team headed up to the annual Fastball Provincial Championships in Prince George from July 7-9.
Head coach, Paul Carey, stayed behind to help fight the local fire so Rob Sanford stepped up to coach the team for the championships.
There were six teams in the U12 division competing for gold.
The games started on Friday, June 7 with the 100 Mile-N-Hour team playing the Merrit Cougars.
The team came off to a strong start in the round robin, beating Merritt with the help of the exceptional pitching skills of Elias Moore. Moore didn’t allow Merrit to get on base in either the fourth or fifth innings.
Tucker Gust performed a “sweet” double play in the game by catching a fly ball, then tagging the runner trying to advance to 2nd base.
The game ended 15-7 with Elias Moore earning MVP.
Game 2 saw the team up against the Clearwater Stingers. Unpredictable lightning stopped the game at the top of the third inning with Clearwater leading 4-2. The game was rescheduled for the next morning where Clearwater dominated, winning 11-3.
Emily Tinney earned MVP for her great catching skills and a nice hit to centre field.
Game 3 had the team playing Barriere Stamer Logging and 100 Mile woke up and was ready to play ball.
Shortstop Ryan Scorse made a fantastic double play in the 2nd inning catching a fly ball and tagging the advancing runner from 2nd to 3rd.
The team played great both offensively and defensively, not allowing Barriere to score any runs and ending in a score of 23-0.
MVP of the game went to pitcher Quinn Carey. At the end of the round robin, 100 Mile-N-Hour was in second place going into the finals.
The first playoff game was against the Williams Lake Prospects and was by far the most exciting game of the weekend.
The teams were neck in neck in the first two innings, when Williams Lake pulled ahead by six runs in the fourth inning.
Going into the fifth inning, Williams Lake had trouble with their pitching, walking three 100 Mile-N-Hour runners.
In the fifth, Elias Moore got up to bat and hit a home run into center field closing the gap, leaving Williams Lake only ahead by two runs.
With only one out and two more runners on base, Cameron Scott came up to the plate and hit an off-field home run, scoring three more runs and winning the game with a final score of 13-12, earning him the MVP of the game.
The second playoff game saw 100 Mile face Clearwater for a second time.
This game was off to a great start going into the fourth inning 3-2 for Clearwater but Clearwater hit their stride in the open inning, earning a dominant nine runs as 100 Mile struggled to get three outs.
Clearwater again won with a final score of 12-3. Reichert Sanford earned MVP of the game.
The third game of the day had 100 Mile playing Merritt in the bronze medal game.
100 Mile played a strong game beating Merritt 13-1 with first baseman Tucker Gust earning MVP.
The team advanced to play in the gold medal game leaving Merritt with the bronze.
The last game of the championships saw 100 Mile and Clearwater facing off yet again.
While the team played hard, they again lost to Clearwater with a final score of 14-4, earning the group second place and the silver medal. Carson Harris earned the MVP award.
“The kids played awesome overall, especially with everything that was going on at home,” says Team Manager Gwen Scott.
