The Chilliwack Cougars bantam AAA team traveled to Maple Ridge last weekend to compete in the Baseball BC National Qualifier Provincial tournament.
The Cougars matched up against the Premier Baseball League’s top team, the Victoria Mariners, in game one.
Kaiden Good scored on a two out single by Wyatt Emery in the first inning to give Chilliwack a 1-0 lead, and a Jared Hall single plated Andrew Statton for a 2-0 lead in the top of the third.
But Victoria came back to force extra innings, and won it in the ninth.
Pitcher Zach Zimmer got the start in game two against the Whalley Chiefs, and threw four solid innings before a pitch-count rule forced him to the bench.
With Zimmer out, the Chiefs came from behind to record a 9-8 win.
Despite being 0-2, Chilliwack still had a shot at a quarter-final berth as they took to the diamond Saturday facing the Coquitlam Reds.
Starting pitcher Aidan Saunders gave up just one run in six innings and helped his own cause offensively with a homerun. Hall also hit a home-run and Alijah-Paul Leiper had a two-run double.
Nathan Lamont pitched the seventh inning to close out a 5-1 win.
Chilliwack ended up in a three-way tie with Whalley and Coquitlam and missed out on the playoffs due to runs for/runs against.
Still, the team’s summer season was a huge success.
The Cougars finished second in the BC Minor Provincial tournament and won the Richmond tournament championship.
Chilliwack led the league in runs scored, Cougar pitchers combined to throw six no-hitters and five players were invited to a Baseball BC evaluation camp.
