To say the provincial midget AAA baseball championships in Burnaby last week didn’t go the way the Cowichan Valley Mustangs expected is an understatement.
“Pretty much not the way anyone expected,” Mustangs head coach Ken Ramwell said. “Everyone kept saying, ‘Oh yeah, it will be you and Kelowna in the final,’ but it wasn’t to be.”
The Mustangs finished just behind the Kelowna Sun Devils in the regular-season standings, but the host North Fraser Nationals shocked both teams, winning the provincial title and a trip to an elite tournament in New York.
“North Fraser is a strong team,” Ramwell said. “They were the only team we couldn’t beat this year. I guess they had our number. They had other teams’ numbers as well.”
The Mustangs opened the tournament with a 5-2 win over the North Island Cubs last Thursday, followed by an 8-6 victory over the South Fraser Giants on Friday. They ran into trouble in their round-robin finale on Saturday, falling 17-3 to North Fraser, which set up a three-way tie between Cowichan, North Island and North Fraser for first place in the pool. The Cubs were awarded top spot based on runs allowed, and advanced straight to the semifinals, while the Mustangs and Nationals met again on Sunday morning in a tiebreaker game.
The Mustangs regrouped after Saturday night’s defeat and played better on Sunday, but not well enough to get revenge on the Nationals, who prevailed 7-4. North Fraser went on to beat Kelowna in the semifinals, then downed North Island in the final.
“Several times we were one hit away,” Ramwell said. “A couple of hits here and there, we would have won the game. We hit the ball a few times, but we hit it right to somebody.”
North Fraser was the only team to beat Cowichan in both ends of a doubleheader all season, with the exception of the last day of the season, when Kelowna swept a shorthanded Cowichan team. The Mustangs visited the Nationals in Burnaby in late May, on their way home from a tournament in Kelowna, and playing on very little sleep, lost 2-1 and 1-0.
In Cowichan’s win over North Island, Nolan Fothergill earned the win, striking out five Cubs over five innings, and Hayden Plester picked up the save. Cameron Linn went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs, and Fothergill, Morley Scott and Tyler Dobson all hit doubles.
The Mustangs beat South Fraser in extra innings, scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth after the Giants plated three in the top of the seventh to force extras. Matteo Iorio took the win on the mound and also went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Cam LeSergent also hit a homer — the first time this year the Mustangs have had two round-trippers in a game — and Fothergill collected another double, while Dobson was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
LeSergent and Fothergill were bright spots in Saturday’s loss to North Fraser, LeSergent going 1-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a steal, and Fothergill going 1-for-2 with a triple, a walk and a steal. The Mustangs tried four different pitchers, but no one was able to stop the North Fraser hitters.
LeSergent went 2-for-4 with a steal in Sunday’s defeat, while Dobson and Josh McCann were both 1-for-2 with an RBI.
The Cowichan players were disappointed with the result, but knew they had no reason to hang their heads.
“I thought the kids would be down more, but on the way home, they were laughing and singing,” Ramwell said. “They truly did leave it all on the table. They played a hard final game from the first inning to the seventh. They had nothing to be down about. I’m proud of the guys.”
Two Mustangs, LeSergent and Scott, were invited by North Fraser to join them on the trip to New York, and they jumped at the chance.
“Good on them both,” Ramwell said. “They deserve it. I was hoping Nolan [Fothergill] would go too, but it depends on what [North Fraser’s] needs are. I’m proud of them. They both worked hard to get where they are. They deserve to go.”
LeSergent, Fothergill and Andrew Strobl are all in their final year of minor baseball, but the other nine Mustangs will be eligible to return next year, so Ramwell anticipates having a strong team again.
“Most teams we played have a lot more graduating players,” he said. “North Fraser and North Island are not among them, so it will be a very competitive league next year.”
Ramwell was assisted this year by Tod LeSergent, Jon Aaron Hop Wo, and Mike Rochon, who has said he doesn’t plan to coach again in 2019.
“We will really miss Mike if he doesn’t come back next year,” Ramwell said.
The Mustangs have the chance to move up next year to the college prep league, which offers arguably a better level of baseball and more exposure for players looking to go the post-secondary route, but no decision has been made yet in that regard.
“We’ll work hard, come back, and be competitive,” Ramwell said. “No matter what league we’re in.”
