Morning Star Staff
The Vernon Canadians are all alone in second place in the B.C. Midget AAA Baseball League.
The C’s swept the winless Chilliwack Royals 11-1 and 14-7 Saturday and then shut down the Aldergrove Dodgers 3-0 and 9-8 Sunday, improving to 11-5.
Vernon shored up their defence and came from behind to ground Aldergrove in Game 2.
“They are starting to realize that they are a force and teams should not want to play them,” said Vernon coach Ken Liefke. “Their bats were incredible and it shows in the amount of runs we scored. They hit everything and they hit it hard.
“Rick Leroux has been working with the boys every practice with their hitting and Chris Wellman works with the pitchers and you can see that the boys are listening and believe in their methods. This should be a real exciting second half of the season.”
Cory Anderson pitched seven innings and gave up two hits as the C’s blanked Aldergrove. He is 4-0 with an ERA of 2.07
“This was the best baseball game I have seen in years,” said Liefke. “Both teams played excellent and our defence was stellar. Cory went out and did what he does every time he goes to the mound. He was outstanding again.”
Caden Doyle went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, while Tyler Liefke was 1-for-3 with an RBI-single and a stolen base. Liefke has signed with Fraser Valley Collegiate and will be joining former teammates Dylan Emmons and Garner Chudyk down in Chilliwack for the upcoming season starting late August.
In Game 2, Vernon needed an extra inning to take down the Dodgers. Ethan Huizinga got the start and went three innings, allowing eight hits and three earned runs. Doyle came in relief and pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing four runs, one earned.
Jared Leroux went the final 3 2/3 innings and issued two hits for his second win of the weekend.
Liefke was 2-for-4 with one run, three stolen bases and one walk, while Tyler Wellman drove in two runs with a single and double, scoring twice and swiping one bag. Noah Alleyne was 2-for-3 with one run, while Eric Embelton smacked a two-run double to tie things late in the game
Wellman pitched all five innings, giving up three hits as the C’s mercied Chilliwack. Wellman is 4-1.
Liefke singled, drew three walks and stole three bases, while Doyle was 2-for-3 with one walk and three stolen bases.
Jake O’Quinn rapped a triple, walked twice and scored three times. Eric Embleton doubled and had one stolen base, while Anderson doubled in two runs and swiped one bag.
