A pair of Abbotsford baseball pitching talents recently excelled on the national stage.
Local players Raine Padgham and Cardel Dick were part of the silver-medal-winning Team B.C. squad at the Baseball Canada 13U AAA National Championships, which wrapped up in Ontario on Aug. 26.
Padgham, who recently helped her club team, the Burnaby Braves, win the 13U AAA provincial title, became the first girl to ever pitch against boys at the 13U AAA National Championships.
B.C. opened with an 11-5 win over Manitoba on Aug. 23, with Dick collecting a team-high three hits in the victory. B.C. continued its strong play with a 10-0 win over Prince Edward Island on Aug. 24, Dick produced two hits and drove in four runs, while Padgham also drove in one.
Ontario defeated B.C. 3-1 on Aug. 24, but B.C. bounced back with a 13-1 win over Quebec Grey on Aug. 25. The wins continued on Aug. 26 for Team B.C., with a 12-0 thrashing of Nova Scotia to advance to the national final later that day and a re-match against the Ontario team that handed B.C. its lone loss.
Ontario jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three innings, but B.C. tied the game up only for costly errors to lead to an eventual 8-5 win for Ontario.
Dick finished with a batting average of .474, nine hits and a team-high eight runs batted in during the six games. Padgham contributed offensively with three hits and two runs batted in.
Dick made two starting pitching appearances, and was credited with one loss, 11 strikeouts and just two earned runs in eight total innings pitched. Padgham started one game, but allowed three runs in two-thirds of an inning. She also recorded two strikeouts in her one history-making appearance.
Padgham’s appearance at nationals comes off the provincial win, which saw the Braves win all five games they competed in to capture the crown. They won the championship with a 6-0 win over the White Rock Tritons on Aug. 11 at Abbotsford’s Exhibition Park.
The Braves opened the event with a 10-5 win over the Tri-City Thunder, a 12-2 win over the Ladner Red Sox, a 10-0 win over the Cowichan Valley Mustangs, and a 10-2 victory over the Chilliwack Cougars in the semifinal on the morning of Aug. 11.
For complete results from the nationals, visit old.baseball.ca/13u.
