COMPLETE RECAP: West Coast Bows Out in The Semi-Final To The Eventual Returning Provincial Champs Delta Tigers at This Year's BC (Minor) Baseball Provincials

NorthShore 2 CARDINALS 3

Yuen got the start for the West Coast Cardinals in this one, Yuen has arguably been the best pitcher on the staff this year so it was only fitting for #11 to get his team on the right track to kick off the 2017 BC (Minor) Baseball Provincial Championships. North Shore countered with Nakamura who is one of the best left-handers in the league hands down. And there you have it, the matchup was set.

Laroche, North Shore's leadoff hitter has given the Cards fits in the past as the pesky catcher from the Padres has hit just a tick under .400 in 4 games against West Coast. Yuen had no problem dealing with Laroche as all it took two fastballs sandwiching a slider to strikeout Laroche, same can't be said for Fleurant as the only left-handed stick from the Padres ambushed a first-pitch fastball located middle-out to deep left-centre cruising into third for a triple and the game's first hit. With Yam opting to play with the infield back, Pierce weakly grounded out to Hendriks at SS for the 2nd out as Fleurant would plate on the aforementioned groundout. The Cardinals down early in this one, got right back up with a spark from leadoff hitter Hendriks as Hendriks would drop one into RF for a leadoff base hit; the leadoff hitter for the Cardinals could only make it as far as 2nd base as 2-3-4 for the Cards all went down on strikes. 1-0 North Shore after 1.

We jump to the 4th inning now, where both starters look to be locked in. Nakamura looking stronger than ever as the kid was looking reminiscent to a young Kevin Kim shutting down the Vancouver Minor Expos in game 1 of last year's BC Minor Provincials; Nakamura striking out the side in the 3rd making it already 7 of the 9 outs recorded by K. The top of the 4th saw Yuen would work around a leadoff single by Pierce again giving the chance for West Coast to finally get to Nakamura in the bottom half of the 4th, that they did. Sugi led off the 4th with a bloop single and would quickly see himself in the same position Hendriks was in the 1st inning, standing on 2nd with 2 outs. The difference this time was Sugi wasn't going to let himself be stranded, #3 wearing white digital camo stole 3rd on a 2-0 pitch to Powell and later see Powell walk. With Armistead (North Shore's manager) taking a slow walk out to the mound, Nakamura, Laroche and Armistead discussed how they wanted to counter a first-and-third play just in case it came up. Yam didn't waste any time seeing what North Shore had up their sleeve, as he tested it sending Powell, the throwdown from Laroche went to the SS who was supposed to cut in for the throw which easily plated Sugi who was off by the time the ball left Laroche's hand. No throw to home and also safe at 2; Powell despite stealing third the very next pitch was stranded 80' away as Yuen couldn't help his own cause striking out to end the inning. 1-1 after 4. 

We jump to the 6th now where the biggest inning was set, both teams had their leadoff guys due up to the plate as North Shore would get the first chance to strike. Laroche would hit a grounder to his leadoff counter-part Hendriks at SS, a bobble and late throw had Laroche safe at 1st to leadoff the 6th. Fluerant would execute the hit-and-run as Laroche was now standing on 2nd with Pierce now up for the Padres. Pierce, would hit the third straight ball of the inning to Hendriks at SS, Hendriks would freeze Laroche at 2nd and fire over to 1st to record a big 2nd out. With Yam previously substituting Suzuki into the lineup and now playing RF, the left-hander would make a huge impact. Nakamura got a hold of a 0-1 offering by Yuen and drove it to deep right field, off the bat it looked like Suzuki had no chance at it but the lefty from New West stuck his right hand in the air while back tracking to his right and made an unreal over the shoulder catch to rob Nakaumura but more importantly strand Laroche at 2. This catch seemed to be the turning point of the game.

Hendriks led off the offensive 6th for the Cards with a 4 pitch walk, Sugi followed that up with a very well executed SAC bunt putting Hendriks at 2 with 1 out. New would record his first hit of the ballgame by hitting a tiny pop up that landed between the pitcher and SS and no play being able to be made, runners at 1st and 2nd with 1 out and Baybay now up. With Nakamura at 75 pitches, Armistead made the curious decision of pulling Nakamura in a tied ballgame deciding to go to Blackwood who has had success (Blackwood came in to the ballgame to face Baybay in their last encounter and struck him out to strand the bases loaded) and been hit hard (Baybay has hit a home run off Blackwood in their 1st meet up of the season); this time Baybay would waste no time as the kid did not want to see that curveball Blackwood had in his back pocket, unfortunately for Baybay he would pop up making it two out runners 1st and 2nd with Powell now up. Yam made the move to go to Crozier in a pinch hitting situation and the move worked (sorta?) Crozier would hit a hard grounder to SS that knicked off the base umpire, a ball that was clearly going to either be a routine groundout or fielder's choice turned out to be Crozier safe at 1st and all runners advance a base only if forced to, meaning bases loaded for Yuen. Yuen would come through in the clutch as #11 jumped on the 0-1 fastball offering for Blackwood driving past Pierce at 3rd down the line, scoring 2 and putting West Coast up by 2. 3-1 Cards after 6.

With Yuen at 71 pitches, Yam opted to go with Hendriks to close it out. Despite allowing a double and that double coming around to score, New would throw out his 2nd baserunner of the game as Blackwood (tying run), who reached on a single would be nabbed trying to swipe 2nd as Laroche could only look on from the on deck circle. 3-2 West Coast your final.

Kamloops 6 CARDINALS 5 

Crozier started on the bump for the Cards for the second time in three meetings this season with Kamloops, appearing to be sailing smoothly out of the gate, picking up two quick outs. That was before he ran into the Riverdogs’ big three - the Austin sandwich, the bread being the Coxon twins. Thing 1 and Austin each crushed one to the fence in left field, followed up by Thing 2’s RBI bloop single that fell in thanks to a lack of communication between shortstop and centre field. For the second game in a row, the Cards were behind before they even got the chance to hold a bat in their hands, 2-0 after just a half inning. They could not capitalize on a pair of walks to Sugi and Baybay in the bottom of the 1st, then proceeded to go down in order in the 2nd. The defence continued to let their pitcher down in the top of the 3rd, as the #10 hitter led off the inning by squibbing one into left that provoked an ill-advised sliding effort from the Cards’ left fielder, who missed the ball and let it get past him for a double. A groundout and a base hit later and that runner was in to extend Kamloops’ lead to 3-0. The Cards finally woke up in the 3rd and 4th innings to get themselves back in the game. New was fortunate to drop a high flyball in the left-centre gap for a two-out RBI single in the 3rd to get the Cards on the board, but it was the 4th where they really came to life. Crozier walked and Yuen sent a single to centre that was kicked by the centre fielder, allowing Crozier to move up to third. Turnbull fought off a grounder to third that was fielded by Austin, but he got caught in between trying to tag out Crozier at third and making the throw over to first, so Turnbull ended up beating the throw at 1st, loading the bases with nobody out. Fukuoka then flied out to shallow left field for the first out, not deep enough for Crozier to tag up from third. What happened next was arguably one of the moments of the season for the Cards that should have ignited the team and put them in position for the knockout punch, but that just didn’t happen. Symons pinch hit for Suzuki in the #9 hole and tomahawked one into left-centre for a game-tying, 2-RBI single, to which the Cardinal parents erupted, by far the most any play has excited them this season. Then came back-to-back walks to Hendriks and Sugi, as the go-ahead run was walked in, giving the Cards their first lead of the game at 4-3. The Wild-Card champion Riverdogs really had to feel on the ropes now, their backs against the wall with the top-seeded team in the province knocking on the door. A moment like Symons’ clutch hit was the spark that the Cards needed to build on to continue to pile it on in this 4th inning, but the heart of the Cards’ order could not bring any more runs around with the bases loaded and one out. A positive inning nonetheless, but you cannot deny that the Cards missed a huge opportunity to step on Kamloops’ throat in that inning, and it would come back to haunt them. 

In the top of the 6th, Crozier gave up a single up the middle to the #2 hitter with one out, and that was the last batter he would face. Despite having plenty of pitches remaining, the coaching staff elected to turn to the pen with the big three looming for their potential third look at Crozier to get the final five outs for the Cards, starting with crafty lefty Suzuki to hold the runner at first. Unfortunately, that move didn’t work out as the Cards’ intended, as the runner moved up to second on pass ball, then to third on a chopper that skipped by shortstop and into left field. With second base open, Austin would be intentionally walked to set up a force all-around with still only one out, the tying run 80 feet away. Suzuki then issued a 5-pitch walk that knotted the game at 4, and promptly exited the game without recording an out. Now it was Kang’s turn to shut the door and carry over his success from the Baseball BC Qualifier, hopefully picking up a big strikeout or two. He got the first batter to pop up for the second out - then this lefty who was barely 5 feet tall steps into the box for the first time and looks awful on a first pitch fastball. No need to overthink things, just groove two more of those right in there and get out of this inning tied - but of course, the 1-1 pitch is in the dirt and bounces away from New, allowing the runner to score from third, putting Kamloops back in front by one. The same batter would eventually be walked, setting the table for a pinch hitter. He hits a soft groundball to third base that sneaks under 3B’s glove and into left field, plating one insurance run as the second was gunned out at the plate. Not a great inning for anybody on the field, followed up by not great efforts at the plate in the 6th, the Cards not able to get anything back. They would head into the bottom of the 7th down a pair, now forced to face hard-throwing closer Austin, needing to dig as deep as it gets to keep hope alive. Baybay grounded to short for the first out. Crozier lined a fastball into left for a base hit after he watched a pretty darn close curveball go by for ball 2, a lucky break for sure. Yuen then flied out to centre field, the Cards now down to their final out. Kamloops’ D opened the door slightly for the Cards, as Turnbull hit a soft grounder to the shortstop who threw it over the first basemen’s head, Turnbull safe at one and Crozier advancing to third on the error. Kang then looped one into right to bring home Crozier and move Turnbull, the tying run, up to third. That’s as far as he would get however, as Austin powered a few fastballs by Suzuki, who put up a decent fight, for the game-ending strikeout. Kamloops gets credited with 6 runs on a mere 4 hits and the Cards go home in a less than ideal position at 1-1, going down at the hands of the Riverdogs, 6-5 the final. -JO

Cloverdale 2 CARDINALS 6

With a less than ideal 1-1 record the Cardinals now were going into game 3 with a virtual must-win attitude. West Coast were gearing up for Cloverdale's ace in what would be a rematch of thier first league which was a tight well pitched ballgame, Sugi vs. Domanski. Cloverdale went with Patterson a few weeks ago in the qualifier when the Cards were anticipating Domanski and today on day 2 were expecting the aforementioned Domanski again to toe the rubber, Foerster opted to go with hard-throwing Nate Sawyer while Yam sent Sugi out to the hill in what would be his third start against the Spurs.

With West Coast being the home team for all round robin games, Sugi toed the rubber and was looking to keep the opposition off the scoreboard in the 1st inning, something both previous starters could not do. The first inning went exactly how the Cards wanted it to go as Sugi looked like a man on a mission early, Donoghue, Palmer and Domanski all going down in order giving West Coast a chance to get on the sticks without worrying about being in an early deficit. Sawyer, obviously had plans of his own as the hard-throwing righty despite throwing one straight back to the fence, looked like he was in control retiring the Cardinals in order, the latter of the two first inning batters for the Cards down on strikes. Zeros after 1 complete.

The second inning saw Cloverdale threaten, the first batter of the inning, one of the many Vulcano's in the family chain popped the ball up to 2B only to be dropped and reach first on the error. A walk to the very next batter had West Coast on their toes with 1 out. Foerster, with 1 out called a very risky double steal with starting pitcher Sawyer at the plate. It seems like teams have had a gameplan throughout this provincial and that is run on West Coast, although New had only caught 3 base runners stealing all year, the kid had already doubled his total and was looking to catch more speed threats. Back to Vulcano, yes you guessed it New with textbook footwork came behind Sawyer and threw a strike to Baybay who tagged a hook-sliding Vulcano who slid past the bag for the 2nd out of the inning. Sawyer would hit a liner to Turnbull in CF for the final out. The Cards would then jump on the board first, an unfortunate base runner for West Coast got picked off at 1st for the 1st out of the bottom half of the 2nd; but the 3 hitters after all picked him up Crozier, Yuen and Turnbull all with base hits to quickly load it up with 2 outs and Symons at the dish. Symons has arguably been one of the most confident hitters for West Coast at the plate lately and the kid again delivered a team AB a soft grounder to 2B plating a run on the RBI groundout. 1-0 Cards after 2.

We jump to the 4th inning now where Sugi is spotting his fastball well and mixing in a number of good secondary pitches keeping Cloverdale guessing but it was everything was rolling too smoothly not to blow up in their face. A 2-out walk to Rowe (his second BB of the game) was all Cloverdale needed to get things going again, as the very next batter took a 2-seamer down the can to the left-centre gap splitting the outfielders and scoring Rowe all the way from 1st with an RBI double. Sawyer was next as he got fooled by a breaking ball only to hit it softly down the 3rd base line, Baybay did exactly the right thing, hold it, pump fake and back door, he had Salmon dead in the water (no pun intended) but turfed his throw to Hendriks covering 3rd as the ball skipped away scoring Salmon, Powell would come in and strand both runners in scoring position, Sawyer and Patterson (who reached by BB) making it 2-1 Spurs after 3 1/2 innings. 

West Coast didn't let that faze them as Crozier would record his second knock of the game, Yuen and Turnbull would follow suit as they both reached base for a second time this game this time via. walk, loading the bases now with 1 out and Symons back up at the dish. There honestly would be no one better to have at the plate than Symons at this point and once again Symons came through (well sorta). Now facing a new pitcher in Rowe, Symons wasted no time at all as he hit a sharp groundball to the 2nd baseman, the ball had 4-6-3 double play written all over it but Vulcano's flip to Domanski at SS was less than ideal, as Domanski barehanded the ball while going the other way, then threw the ball past the Cloverdale first baseman, two runs cashed in on the Symons' fielders choice + E6. 3-2 Cards after 4. 

With Powell now in the game for Sugi, he would allow a leadoff single to Donoghue who promptly advance to third on a wild pitch. With no intentions of bunting with Domanski on deck, Donoghue made a curious decision to straight steal 3 with none out, the steal attempt would backfire as with none out Donoghue was gunned out at 3rd by New, giving him 5 base runners caught stealing (a total now up to 8 this year). Donoghue's baserunning blunder would prove to be costly as Domanski would hit a jam shot flare up the middle with 2 outs. Powell would get Vulcano to groundout to end the inning and the threat. With a narrow one run lead, the top of Cardinals' order had not been producing and after receiving a spark from the coaching staff, Hendriks ripped a double to lead off the bottom of the 5thm Sugi didn't waste any time trading places as first pitch Sugi saw was driven over the right fielder's head for an RBI double making it 4-2. With 1 out now and Baybay up, Yam called a squeze attempt on a 1-0 pitch, the safety squeeze worked as Sugi would be safe at home (5-2) and Baybay advanced to second on an error by the Cloverdale pitcher. Crozier would reach first on the fielder's choice and later also come in to score as Yuen would hit a ball through the first baseman's legs making the score 6-2 after 5. 

Cloverdale would make things interesting in the 6th as they would load the bases with 2 out, Yam would bring in Miles to get the final out of the inning with tying run in Donoghue at the plate. Miles would win the lefty-lefty matchup as Donoghue would fly out to deep centre on the first pitch he saw keeping it at 6-2. Miles would complete the final 3 outs in the 7th to pick up the 9 out SV. 6-2 Cardinals Final.

Richmond 4 CARDINALS 5

Delta 6 CARDINALS 0 (Semi-Final)