The Duncan Jays played to a second-place finish as hosts of the 11U AAA baseball regionals at North Cowichan’s Evans Park last weekend.
Although the summer season lasted just a month this year, half of its usual length, that didn’t seem to hurt the Jays, according to Jim Jaggers, who coached the team along with Trevor Vanderbyl and Steve Poznecov.
“Top to bottom, everyone came together pretty quickly,” Jaggers said. “That’s all you can ask for.”
The Jays opened the tournament with back to back losses, 14-13 to the Victoria Seawolves and 20-10 to the Carnarvon Cannons, then exploded for a 17-4 win over the Campbell River Tyees in their last game of pool play. They carried that momentum into the semifinal, where they beat the Seawolves 10-8 in a rematch. That set up yet another rematch, this time against the Cannons. Although it was a closer result in the second meeting, the Carnarvon club prevailed again, 7-0.
“We’re a strong-hitting team,” Jaggers commented. “But in the final, we just couldn’t hit.”
Game MVPs for the Jays were Sydnee Poznecov, Alex Erickson, Matt Hill, Coulter Bruinsma-Snowden and Owen Jaggers, but the coaches were impressed with all their players.
“It was a great team effort from everyone,” Jim Jaggers said. “Everyone played well and deserves credit.”
