The Trail All Stars are heading into the provincial championships on a winning note.
In the team’s final tournament before hosting the best in B.C., the club headed south of the border to Chewelah for the annual Mike Carpenter Memorial Tournament.
It wasn’t even close as the All Stars steamrolled their way to the final with wins of 16-0, 13-0, 14-3 and 15-1 to advance to the title game.
The All Stars barely slowed down as they defeated the Spokane Angels 12-3 to successfully defend the title they won last year.
Trail’s offensive onslaught started right off the bat when Landan Uzeloc led off the game with a triple on the first pitch. Brady Augustin followed with an RBI single and Calvin Morrison made it 3-0 after just three batters when he clubbed a two-run homer.
To the Angels credit, they manged to bounce back in the bottom of the first with three runs of their own to knot the game at 3-3. But that’s as close as any team would come to derailing the Trail juggernaut.
After a scoreless second inning, the Trail offence caught fire with three runs in the third, five runs in the fifth and a single run, on Hayden White’s solo shot, in the sixth. Uzeloc scored three runs in three at bats.
Augustin pitched three innings and fanned three before Morrison came on in relief allowing two hits and striking out eight in his three innings of relief.
The 2018 Major Little League Championship kicks off in Trail Friday night with the welcome banquet. Action begins Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at Andy Bilesky Park with Little Mountain taking on New Westminster. The Opening Ceremonies will be held a 12:30 p.m. followed by Trail’s first match against Beacon Hill.
The final game of the day features Whalley vs Lynn Valley.
Sunday’s opening game pits two perennial Canadian Little League powerhouses when Trail and Whalley, both winners of five Canadian titles, meet at 10 a.m.
