The Vernon Canadians finished 2-2 at the B.C. Mosquito AA Baseball Championships at Lionel Courchene Park in Surrey.
Coached by Mark Batchelor, Gus Morris, Colin Rafferty and Achim Colmorgen, the C’s finished by bouncing the Burnaby Braves 13-10 with game MVP going to Landen Harison.
Burnaby took the championship by grounding the Oceanside Reds of Parksville 13-2.
The C’s used a four-run fourth to stop the Braves, keyed by an Eric Foufoulas RBI-double to right field. Chris McIntosh, Koll Cherkowski and Lincoln Connor also drove in runs.
Harison jumpstarted the Canadians in the first with a single to centre before swiping second and third and scoring on a double to left by Braden Beacom. Chase Batchelor reached first on a bunt and later scored on a bash to centre by Carter Morris, who swiped home to end the inning.
Vernon lost 11-10 to Oceanside in their opener as the Reds scored once in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The C’s trailed 6-0 until the third when Connor cracked a double to the hole in centre to start a rally. Cherkowski was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Jackson Soucy walked to score Connor. Harison also walked to bring in Cherkowski, while Batchelor smacked a two-run single for Vernon’s maximum four runs.
Maguire Lauridsen started a fourth-inning rally with a single, just beating the throw to first. Ryan Gamage and Caden Colmorgen walked to load the bases and McIntosh walked to bring in Lauridsen.
Beacom then singled and Connor walked to score Colmorgen for the tying run. McIntosh swiped home with a nice slide on a dropped ball by the catcher, while Cherkowski and MVP Foufoulas both walked to score Beacom and take an 8-6 lead.
Foufoulas whiffed two batters in the bottom of the fourth, while Colmorgen charged in from centre field to make a line-drive catch for the third out.
Beacom bashed a two-run single in the top of the sixth, scoring Carter Morris and Gamage.
Vernon then outlasted the Surrey Cardinals 10-9 with Morris doing it all for MVP.
Morris led off the bottom of the seventh with a double, moved to third on a single by McIntosh and scored with McIntosh on a smash to right by Gamage. Beacom singled to left, advancing Gamage to third before Foufoulas singled through short as Gamage slid home with the winning run.
Morris, playing short, turned a nice double play in the second inning, when he also doubled and scored on a Connor single.
The C’s used a four-run fourth to go ahead 7-5 with McIntosh, Connor and Foufoulas all stroking singles and Cherkowski knocking in one run with a sac fly. Batchelor struck out a pair in the fifth.
In Game 3, the Canadians bowed 6-2 to Gibsons with Beacom collecting MVP.
McIntosh pitched 3 and 2/3 innings of stellar ball as the starter, striking out the side in the third.
Beacom doubled over second base in the fifth and scored on a double to centre by Colmorgen. McIntosh then drove in Colmorgen.
Vernon sparkled in the skills competition, winning the Star Drill in 27 seconds. The throw started from Batchelor at home, Morris at short, McIntosh at first, Gamage at third and Foufoulas at second with the ball ending back at home
Colmorgen and Harison entered the home run derby with Harison hitting one over the 225-foot mark in centre. Burnaby won with two dingers.
The base running contest was close with the Ladysmith Cannons winning. Connor, Soucy, Beacom, Harison and Lauridsen showed great wheels for the C’s.
Cherkowski, Batchelor and Morris hit one target in the throwing accuracy, won by Vancouver, with three hits.
The Canadians finished the summer ball season at 40-5.
