The Langley Blaze survived a lack of offence in the semifinals, but were not as fortunate in the championship final.
Playing against the host team, the Windsor Stars on Sunday at the Canadian senior men’s national baseball championships, the Blaze were on the wrong end of a 3-1 score.
Langley managed just one hit on three runs, and it came off the bat of clean-up hitter Sean Hotzak, as his third-inning single scored Tyler Willson. But by that point, Windsor was already up 3-0.
Jesse Peters was tagged with the loss, allowing three earned runs over seven innings. He struck out 10 and walked just one.
Langley needed extra innings in the semifinals even to make the championship game.
Playing against Manitoba on Sunday morning, the game went nine innings and finally ended when Peters singled home Scott Webster for the game’s only run in a 1-0 victory.
On the mound, Shane Kraemer (six innings) and Jordan Broatch (three innings) combined to strike out 10 and pitch the shutout.
In Langley’s other games, they defeated New Brunswick 5-4, edged Manitoba 2-1, hammered Alberta 10-3 and then beat Windsor 10-0.
The team has qualified for the 2014 Canadian championships in Newfoundland by virtue of their victory earlier this month at the B.C. senior men’s provincial championships.
