The Vernon Canadians brought their best, but ran into stiff competition at the B.C. Bantam A Baseball Championships last weekend on the Lower Mainland.
The Canadians, coached by Don Emmons, Terry Chudyk Drew Doyle and Darren Zupp, opened with a 9-2 loss to the Ridge Meadow Royals in their provincial opener Thursday morning in Pitt Meadows.
Shelby Hartwig went 2-for-3 with two RBI and pitched two-and-a-half innings, facing 11 batters and recording four strikeouts. Clayton Bateman and Tyler Lacktin-Doyle pitched in relief, combining for six more strikeouts.
Garner Chudyk, Brayden Damini and Bateman all batted .500. Game MVP Mark Trznadel was stellar patrolling centrefield.
In their second game of the day, Vernon came up just short in a 13-11 loss to the Chilliwack Cougars.
Mitchell Lukacs went 4-for-4 with two doubles and three stolen bases to earn Game MVP.
Dylan Emmons and Bateman both went 2-for-3 with walks, and Lactin-Doyle hit 2-for-4, with two doubles and four ribbies.
Frankie Gettis and Trznadel showed great patience at the plate, and Jacob O’Quinn showed a good glove. The Canadians got a great combined pitching game from Brenden Zupp, Emmons, Lactin-Doyle and Lukacs.
Friday afternoon, the Canadians were upset 6-3 by the Cloverdale Spurs.
Lukacs tried to spark the Canadians with a spectacular dive to beat the tag at home plate, while catcher Damini gunned down several runners from behind the plate.
Hartwig started on the mound and was relieved by Emmons in the sixth inning, facing a combined 20 batters and fanning eight. Vernon got great defence from Chudyk and a strong bat from O’Quinn, who went 2-for-3. Zupp swung 2-for-3 to collect Game MVP.
In their final game Saturday morning, Vernon came up empty-handed in a 6-3 loss to the Tsawwassen Athletics.
The boys played hard, but just could not find enough bat strength to get them through.
Damini caught a one-bouncer in left field and fired it to second to gun down a Tsawwassen baserunner. Lukacs, Zupp and Game MVP Bateman were solid at the plate.
The Canadians thanked Kyle Anderson of the OMBL Vernon Diamondbacks for travelling with the team to support and encourage the boys.
