Trail All Stars outfielder Willem Terwoord belted two three-run home runs to launch the host team past New Westminster Monday night on Day 3 of BC Little League Championship play.
The 13-7 victory was a huge bounce back win for the All Stars, after being no-hit in a 10-0 loss to Whalley Sunday.
See related story: Trail All Stars split opening matches at BC Little League championships
“We needed to get the bats going again today, so it was very important to have a good start, and the two runs in the first inning was definitely the tone setter for us tonight,” said Trail manager D.J. Ashman.
The win puts the All Stars at 2-1 and in good position for a playoff spot on Friday. Trail is tied with Whalley, who eked out a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over Little Mountain in the Monday afternoon match.
Trail led 2-0 after the first inning, and scored four in the top of the third, that included a three-run bomb by Terwoord to take a seemingly commanding 6-0 lead.
Trail’s Cody Wert was dominant on the mound for the All Stars striking out seven batters and allowing just two hits through four innings.
“He was fantastic today,” said Ashman. “We knew he was going to go either 35 or 65, and when he set the tone and was getting guys out we said we’re going to go to 65 so he’s available for the semifinal if we get there.”
The All Stars went up 9-0 in the top of the fourth, manufacturing three runs on a couple of hits and some miscues by the New West defence. But the Lower Mainland team didn’t go quietly, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth then adding three more on back-to-back homers in the fifth to trail Trail 10-4.
“We wanted our kids to throw strikes and get outs, and we knew if we gave up a couple bombs here and there we’d be okay because we had that cushion,” said Ashman. “We knew we had lots of pitching to get us through the game so we knew we were safe in taking him (Cody) out.”
Terwoord capped off an epic performance with another three-run shot in the top of six to make it a 13-4 game, and says his work at the plate has helped his offensive numbers improve over the year.
“At the beginning of the year I kept on letting go of the bat with one hand and my shoulder was dropping,” said Terwoord. “So once I figured that out and hitting off the Tee helped a lot.”
The game became surprisingly tense in final two innings with New West leaving the bases loaded in the fifth, and adding three more in the bottom half of six before Trail escaped with the 13-7 final.
Terwoord went 4-for-4 at the plate with two home runs, two singles, and seven RBIs.
“He had a day for the ages,” said Ashman. “I was very happy with his performance today.”
Calvin Morrison also had a great game going 3-for-4 with a double and two singles, in addition to stellar play in the field.
Trail played Little Mountain Tuesday night but the score was unavailable at press time.
Little Mountain, 0-3, is hungry for a win after falling to both Lynn Valley and Whalley by just one run in the past two games. Trail’s playoff hopes would be secured with a win, otherwise their final round-robin game against Lynn Valley may prove the deciding factor.
“You never know in this tournament, teams are upsetting other teams, but if we win tomorrow (Tuesday) we know were in,” added Ashman.
On Tuesday morning, Whalley defeated Beacon Hill 6-2 to go to 3-1 in the tournament.
In Monday’s previous matches, Lynn Valley beat Beacon Hill 9-2 (as reported) and Whalley came back to beat Little Mountain 7-6.
See related story: Lynn Valley Undefeated at BC Little League Provincials
The close match saw District 1 Little Mountain jump out to a 3-1 first-inning lead thanks to a two-run RBI double by Levi Soper.
Little Mountain went up 6-4 in the top of four, however, a two-run Whalley homer evened the game at six in the bottom half of the fourth inning. In the bottom of five, Whalley completed the comeback when Jaren Ashbee singled and Andre Juco doubled to put runners on second and third. Zaeden Pleasants then pushed over the winning run on a fielders choice, giving Whalley the 7-6 victory.
The scores for the Lynn Valley-New Westminster match on Tuesday at 2 p.m and Trail’s 5 p.m. game were unavailable at press time.
Wednesday’s games include New West vs Whalley at 10 a.m., Beacon Hill vs Little Mt. at 1:30 p.m. and Trail against Lynn Valley at 5 p.m.
