Blue Tyees of the Tadpole Division represented Campbell River well July 15-17 by winning the Vancouver Island Title in baseball for 8-9 year olds.
The final tournament was hosted in Sidney by the Peninsula Baseball Association.
After months of practise the team bonded to play dominantly in the final title tournament of the year going 3-1 in the round robin. The only loss came at the hands of Carnarvon Cannons (Oak Bay) who turned a double play with bases loaded in the bottom of the last inning to win by one run.
Undeterred, Campbell River made the semi-finals Sunday and with dominant pitching performances by Aiden Hoffman and Ethan Crowhurst, beat the Triangle Rangers 11-3 to set-up a rematch for first place with the Carnarvon Cannons.
With Brandin Cronin injured in the semi-final game the team rallied together to win the last one for Brandin; this time with excellent pitching by Hunter Auramenko and Caelan Tuck.
Carnarvon was losing 11-10 with two outs in the top of final inning but had runners at second and third. A hard grounder was played well by Ryder Lipkovitis, who filled in for the injured Brandin, to throw the runner out at first putting Campbell River back on the map as the best ball club on the island.
“This was a true team win with every single team member contributing over the course of the weekend,” said coach Basso. 7 out of 13 players hit home-runs not to mention the spectacular defensive play this team had.
Campbell River will be looking to defend it’s title next year so come out and register next spring.
