The Vernon Hi Pro Sports Canadians clipped the host Rutland Predators 9-8 in Sunday’s final of the Wesley Nelson Pee Wee Baseball Tournament at Edith Gay Park.
Trailing 8-6 in the fifth, pitcher and game MVP Landen Harison struck out two batters and Lincoln Connor caught a fly in left field to sit Rutland down in order.
Ethan Eisenhauer jumpstarted Vernon ‘s rally with a single to right and then swiped second and third. Harison singled down the left field line scoring Eisenhauer. Brayden Beacom singled in Harison to tie the game and Beacom stole home for the winning run.
Earlier, Tyson Sampert made a dynamic double play, catching a fly at third and then gunning the ball to Hayden Lewis at first. Lewis struck out one in the second inning and then walked and stole three bases for the Canadians’ first run.
Eric Foufoulas walked, stole his way to third and scored on Dakota Becker’s line drive past third for Vernon’s second run. Defensively, Becker stopped a line drive at third and threw to Ryan Gamage at first for an out.
Gamage mowed down the first two batters he faced in the third, while Harison ran down an overthrow behind the plate and tagged out a runner trying to steal.
Down 8-2 in the fourth, Vernon put up four runs with Connor igniting the rally with a single to centre field. Gamage doubled to right to bring in Connor, while Lewis singled to centre to score Gamage. Foufoulas singled to right to advance Lewis to third and Sampert drove in Lewis. Becker singled in Foufoulas.
The Canadians, coached by Mike Lewis, bounced the Rutland Bullets 7-4 in the semifinals.
Gamage took MVP by smacking an out-of-the-park, two-run dinger and a double. Jackson Soucy was on base when Gamage homered. Lewis doubled in Beacom and stole home to start the fireworks.
Dalton Stenberg pitched the first inning before Alyssa Racine worked the hill until Harison fanned the final two batters in the sixth. Racine struck out two in the fourth and knocked down a hard smash and threw to first baseman Koll Cherkowski for an out in the fifth.
Becker scooped two infield grounders in a row and made tags for outs in the first inning, while Cherkowski singled and swiped his way to third before Harison sacrificed him home. Lewis singled in Racine. Connor drove in Gamage for Vernon’s only second-inning run.
The C’s opened with a 13-3 ambush of the Rutland Red Rebels, grounded the Bullets by the same score and then earned a 15-5 win over Rutland #2.
Connor earned MVP by striking out four batters in two innings after Sampert mowed down two in the first inning. Maguire Lauridsen fanned the first batter he faced in the fourth while also pitching the fifth. Becker tripled to centre and Harison doubled to spark the Vernon offence.
Cherkowski retired all six batters he faced and earned MVP as the C’s beat the Bullets. Harison stroked a two-run stand-up triple, while Jackson Soucy started on the mound.
Racine pitched two firm innings and supplied two hits for MVP as the C’s routed Rutland #2.
Pitcher Kalvin Blaeser singled, stole two bases and scored on Jon Morley’s single as the Interior Utility Management Yellow Jackets grounded the Eagles Black Knights 9-1 in Pee Wee House play Monday night at Creekside Park.
In Pee Wee AA action, the Kal Tire Canadians stopped the host Kamloops Reds 12-5 Wednesday night.
Caden Doyles struck out batters before giving up a pair of walks to start the third inning. He was relieved by Jaden Parsons, who gave up one run on three hits before turned the ball over to Caden Bracken in the sixth. Bracken allowed four runs on four hits.
Parsons rapped a single, double and triple, while Jarod Leroux smacked a pair of doubles and Doyle doubled and singles. Dawson Chase leads the C’s with a .636 batting average.
In Saturday Bantam action, the Cold Stone Creamery Canadians swept host Kamloops 11-8 and 13-2.
Catcher Noah Foufoulas drove in two runs on two hits, while pitcher Corey Anderson struck out three and finished with two hits, two steals and an RBI in the opener. Greg Geistlinger and Tony Campen each had one RBI, while Kyle Ciurka singled and scored twice.
Riley Preston, in centre field, ran down a solid hit and threw to third basemen Anthony Prince for the tag out. Jacob Soucy, Geistlinger and Ciruka also pitched.
In Game 2, the Cold Stone crew got three strikeouts from starter Anthony Prince and solid relief from Landon Currie and Campen.
Adam Sacht swiped three bases, including home, while Hayden Vardon singled and later swiped home and Geistlinger ripped an RBI-triple and Foufoulas dropped one in the hole in right to score a deuce.
Shortstop Isaac Waldemaras charged a grounder and threw to Vardon at first for a stellar out in the fifth.
