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The Ridge Meadows Royals capped off an amazing season by winning the 2015 provincial midget AAA championship in Nanaimo, going 6-0 in the weekend tournament.
The Royals had a remarkable tournament, scoring 33 runs while allowing only seven against in six games.
Tristan Reed was named the tournament’s top hitter, while Nick Peters was given the top outfielder award.
The Royals will travel to Fremont, California on Wednesday to take part in the CABA West National Championships.
They faced off against the Kamloops Riverdogs in the B.C. final, as two of the most successful midget teams of the past decade clashed.
“The final game lived up to the hype as a tightly-contested, well-played game between two great teams,” said Royals GM Nor Ljunggren.
His team won 2-1.
The Royals started the tourney Thursday against the South Fraser Giants and mercied them 11-1. Seth Injates got the start on the mound and did not allow a run through 4.1 innings. Peters led the offence, going 3-3 with two doubles and four runs batted in. Injates (2-4, triple, RBI), Domenic Baptista (1-1, double, 3 RBI), and Tristan Reed (2-3, double, 2 runs, RBI) also chipped in with the bats.
In the second game, the Royals met the host Nanaimo Buccaneers. Trevor Reed threw a complete game shutout while allowing only two hits en route to a 3-0 win.
Tristan Reed (2-3, double, RBI), Baptista (1-3, double, RBI), and Colton Beard (1-2, RBI) all swung the bat well in the win.
Friday against the Richmond Chuckers, starter Chris Bailey allowed only two hits while striking out seven in 6.2 innings, leading the Royals to a 6-0 win. Beard had a great game at the plate, going 3-4 with a double and 3 RBI. Kyron Smith went 1-2, with two walks, two runs, and two stolen bases.
The Royals beat the Tri-City Indians 2-1 to finish the round-robin 4-0. Starter Baptista allowed a run on four hits while striking out nine. Trevor Reed went 2-4 with a double and a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth.
Their semi-final matchup was the Chilliwack Cougars, who finished second in league play, nine games behind the Royals.
The game got off to a rough start, as the Royals allowed three runs in the top of the first inning. But they bounced right back by scoring two in the bottom half of the inning to get within a run.
After two innings it was tied 4-4.
From there, starter Injates locked down the Cougars’ bats, not allowing any more runs, while the offence continued to score to lead the Royals to a 9-4 win and a berth in the Provincial Championship game.
The offense was led by a number of players, including Baptista (2-3, RBI, run), Smith (2-4, 3 RBI, 2 runs, stolen base), Trevor Reed (2-3, 2 runs), and Trevor Biggin (2-4, 2 runs).
The final game remained scoreless through the first 3 innings, until the Riverdogs pushed a run across in the 4th off Royals starter Bailey. The Royals answered right back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Baptista. Neither team scored in the 5th, but in the bottom of the 6th the Royals managed to go ahead on another sacrifice fly, this time by Peters. Trevor Reed, who came on in relief of Bailey in the 6th inning, recorded the first two outs of the 7th, but then allowed a single and a walk to give Kamloops an opportunity to tie the game. Reed fell behind the clean-up hitter 2-0 before battling back to even the count. After three consecutive foul balls, Reed struck him out with a curveball to clinch the Provincial title.
The championship marks the team’s second title in the past five years they have fielded a team, and third in the past nine years,
