For the first time ever, the Abbotsford Cardinals are British Columbia Premier Baseball League champions.
The Cardinals clinched the title with a 10-1 win over the Victoria Mariners at DeLair Park on Sunday, to cap off an incredible turnaround season.
Abbotsford entered the BCPBL playoffs as the number eight seed, and then knocked off the top-ranked Langley Blaze in a three-game series in Langley last weekend.
The Cardinals continued their hot run of play by losing only one game during the BCPBL championships, which ran from Friday to Sunday at DeLair Park.
“I’m not really sure how we did this,” joked Cardinals head coach Derek Florko after the win. “We started off the season slowly, but it seemed like every week and every month we just got better at one little thing. Once we got here we peaked and we really played our best at the end.”
Sunday’s win saw the Cards trail 1-0, but then explode for four runs to take the lead in the third inning. Dylan Ohlsen highlighted the inning with a two-out, two-run double to put Abbotsford up 4-1.
They added another four runs in the fifth inning to add some insurance. They also scored one run in both the fourth and sixth innings.
Florko said it’s a surreal feeling to finally win the championship.
“We’ve never won and I’ve never been to the final four before,” he said. “I don’t really think it’s sunk in yet.”
He said the Cardinals have a number of graduating players, and this is the perfect way to go out.
“Our graduating guys have been awesome,” he said. “They set the tempo for the younger guys and have been great leaders. This is one of our best graduating classes ever.
Despite losing a handful of players to graduation, Florko said the future looks bright for the Cardinals, with a lot of talented youth on the team. He also pointed out that the Junior Cardinals are also strong, as they go for a junior title later this week.
Read Wednesday’s print edition of The News for more on the game and the team.
