Despite a series of victories, the Ridge Meadows Royals midget team were unable to clinch the final win in the Canada Day Classic tournament held over the long weekend in Kamloops.
The Royals fell 11-1 in six innings to the Parkland Twins Monday afternoon, forcing the team to accept second place out of eight teams competing.
The loss was unexpected considering the streak the Royals appeared to be on heading into the final, having won their last four games.
The weekend got off to a disappointing start on Saturday morning with a 3-1 loss against the Parkland Twins.
Chad Weststeyn was brought home in the second inning thanks to a solid hit from Robert Gibson.
Things improved later in the day with the Royals defeating the North Delta Junior Blue Jays 8-6, although it took some time to get there.
The Jays scored five runs before the first inning was over, with the Royals trailing by a single run. Both teams scored an additional run in the second.
The Royals, knowing they were in trouble, swapped out starting pitcher Weststeyn for Gibson, who threw for the remaining five innings.
It wasn’t until the sixth that the Royals were able to bounce back, posting six runs in that inning alone.
Josiah Williams was the catalyst that game, with two runs scored and two stolen bases.
On Sunday, the Royals started the day by striking down the Coquitlam Redlegs 3-0.
Pitcher Darian Guemos recorded four strikeouts across seven innings played.
Weststeyn also drove in Jonah Weisner and Brenden Louie, while scoring a run himself.
Later on Sunday, the Royals narrowly defeated the Red Deer Braves 3-2, securing their second-place spot in the pool.
Despite two earned runs, pitcher Weststeyn also threw five strikeouts.
Williams managed a triple and two singles, as well as scoring a run.
The three wins landed the Royals a spot in the semi-finals, which played out on Monday morning against the Northwest Prairie Pirates, visiting from Lloydminster, Sask.
Ridge Meadows won that game with an impressive 8-2 final, securing their lead at the top of the fifth with five straight runs.
The Royals will now head back home to Hammond Stadium for back-to-back double-headers against the North Shore Junior Twins and the Cloverdale Nationals this weekend.
The North Shore will visit on Saturday, July 8, while Cloverdale stops by on July 9.
