Breast Cancer Fundraiser a Success

This was a real team effort as all players, coaches and even the opposition Cloverdale Bantam AAA program got pledges to drive the dollars up. It was also a real lower mainland event, pulling in pledges from Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Burnaby, White Rock, Surrey, and Cloverdale. The campaign got support from overseas both local (Parksville) and global (England). And we can't forget the support we received from Connecticut and the Mountie Alumni Collins family.

There were over 120 different donors and if you want to you can still donate via the online donation form at:

http://cancerevents.kintera.org/vancouvermounties

Mounties raise over $2,800.00 for Breast Cancer Research!
It was a Wild and Wacky Mothers Day at Vancouver's Hillcrest Park.  When the games were done and the dust had settled the big winner was the Canadian Cancer Society as the Vancouver Mountie Players, parents, and coaches managed to raise over $2,800.00 in pledges for their Running home for Breast Cancer fundraiser.  Some late pledges are still coming in and Vancouver's Manager Todd Mundle is optimistic that the final total may reach $3,000.00. If you want to you can still donate via the online donation form at:

http://cancerevents.kintera.org/vancouvermounties

This idea was hatched last year by the Mounties Jr. coach Teddy Pawlick but due to time constraints and the Mounties being on the road last year on Mother's Day it was put on the shelf until this year.  The Mounties would like to thank Ian Huntley for donating the pink Mounties baseball hats; through the manufacturer a portion of the cost was donated to the Canadian Cancer Society to support breast cancer research.  It was a special day which included pint bats, pink balls and pink bases.  Robert Hemer spray painted his cast pink for the event and the rest of the Mountie players had enough different pink paraphernalia supplementing their uniforms that it would have caused Richmond Chucker's manager Alex Klenman to call in the uniform police!  The event was a success and the Mounties are planning to make it a yearly event.
 
The day started out normal enough with the Mounties winning over North Island by an 13 to 3 score.  However in the 2nd game of the 3 game triple header the winless North Island Blizzard came out swinging and after taking a 5 - 0 lead held on and picked up their first win of the season over the Cloverdale Red Spurs with a 5-4 decision.

The Mounties thinking they were going to be facing a subdued Cloverdale Red Spurs team were given a rude awakening as the Red team dominated the Mounties scoring 7 runs in the first inning before the Mounties even had a chance to bat.  The Mounties clawed their way back and were trailing by a 7 to 5 margin after 2 innings.

The Red Spurs continued their offensive assault and scored 3 more runs to go ahead by a 10 to 5 count.  The Mounties matched that in the bottom of the inning and after 3 complete innings the score was 10 - 8 Cloverdale.  The Mounties were finally able to keep the Red Spurs off the scoreboard in the 4th and Sengara's 2 run homer put the Mounties ahead by an 11 - 10 score.

The Mounties extended their lead to 13 - 10 but the pesky Red team was not going to be denied as they scored 2 more in the top of the 6th to close the gap to 1 run.  The Red team shut the Mounties down in the bottom of the 6th turning a double play to end the inning showing they were not going to go home quietly.  

In the 7th the first two Red Spurs batters reached base but Nesplak managed to strike out the side to preserve the 13 - 12 Mountie win.   It was a great day of baseball at the park with all 3 teams playing some great baseball. 

The Mounties would like to thank all of the wonderful people that jumped on board and pledged support on their Breast Cancer Research Fundraiser.  A special thanks to the Cloverdale Black Spurs who pledged a record breaking $20.00 a run that the Red Spurs scored.  A special thanks to the Cloverdale Red Spurs who seemed to especially enjoy that every time they scored a run the Black team was paying!  Also a special thanks to the Cloverdale Red parents who were very supportive and respectful every time the airhorn went off to announce that more money had been raised.  Last but not least the Vancouver Mounties Baseball Club would like to thank all of the mothers who came out on their special day to support and watch their sons play baseball.

2008 Team Leaders Lim & Russell JOIN THE FIGHT!
It is no surprise that 2008 Mountie Alumni and team leaders Brendan Lim and Keith Russell along with their families have pledged their support in the Mountie fundraiser to fight against Breast Cancer.  Lim and Russell were both talented and inspirational players that instilled the high standards that have helped set the foundation for the success of the Mountie program.  As usual both families have swung for the fences with their pledges and have challenged the Mountie team to score more in this war against cancer!

Classy Cloverdale Spurs JOIN THE FIGHT Against Breast Cancer!
Cloverdale Spurs are not only a great team but a classy organization.  In an email this afternoon the Spurs have informed the Mounties that they will be making a pledge to support the Running Home to Beat Breast Cancer Fundraiser on Mothers Day.   However: "like the immortal Pete Rose , they simply can't bet against their own team.  Therefore the Spurs will be pledging $20.00 for every run scored by the Cloverdale Spurs Red in support of this great cause."

This might be one of those games where both sets of fans will be cheering for every run scored regardless of the team.  Players that make errors will probably receive a mulligan on this day.  At the end of the day their will be one big winner and that will certainly be the Cancer Society.  Don't be surprised if  their are representatives from all of baseballs governing bodies at the game watching over Manager Mundle's Mounties making sure that everything is on the straight and narrow.