15U Nationals Game #3 - Team BC clinches top spot in Pool A in nail-biting fashion, edging the Host 1-0

Lucky for Team BC, they had the majority of Friday to recover from their exhausting midnight tilt with Quebec’s provincial team. Tonight, BC would have to deal with the Quebec Host team, who were just as much of a force to reckoned with as Les Bleus. Their red jerseys had the words “Rive-Nord” across their chest, a region north of the St. Lawrence River made up of 20 different municipalities. While most of their players were from this region, about a third of their roster pooled from elsewhere in the province, including their left-handed starting pitcher called upon to quiet the BC bats. The Hosts dropped a thrilling 7-6 decision to Saskatchewan the night before, then did Team BC a favour by walking off Ontario 1-0 earlier on Friday. With that result, a win for BC in this game would secure them a semi-finals berth, regardless of the result in their last pool A match-up against Ontario on Saturday. 

Team BC 1, Quebec Hosts 0 

The visitors looked to be off to a promising start getting the leadoff man Bestebroer on with a walk, but that was quickly wiped out by a grounder to shortstop that turned into a double play. Then in the 2nd, Dylan De Meyer reached on an error by the Hosts’ third baseman with two out, later rumbling into scoring position on an 0-2 wild pitch. The very next pitch was a soft liner into right field off the bat of catcher Hayden Mangat. De Meyer, not the fleetest of foot on a good day, motored around third trying to score the first run, but he’d be gunned down in plenty of time to end the inning. He was battling a tight back and a sore foot from pitching the day before – maybe if he had an ice bath a few hours earlier, he might’ve had enough juice to make it all the way home.  

The Hosts didn’t have many opportunities to put runs on the board against BC ace Desmond Tregaskis. On the road to Nationals, the Blue Jays racked up a mind-blowing 17 shutout victories, and Captain Des was on the bump for 9 of them. After sitting down the first four batters he faced, Tregaskis got into a bind when he plunked the #5 hitter, then surrendered a long single to right-centre field. Connor Fischer made a fantastic effort to cut this ball off and get it back to the infield quickly, holding the lead runner at third base with one out. No better time for Tregaskis to rack up 2 of his 13 strikeouts on the night, keeping the game scoreless after two complete. 

Perhaps the reason why this game felt so stressful for all involved was that BC had runners on base in every single inning and just couldn’t get the job done. In the top of the 3rd, a leadoff double by Lucas Yu went by the wayside when another squeeze attempt was botched. In the 4th, Tregaskis stung his second hard-hit ball in as many at-bats right at a Quebec defender. This one was hit so hard to the shortstop that Redpath had no time at all to react and was promptly doubled off first base for the third out. The 5th inning saw De Meyer reach base with two out once again, replaced by speedster McWhinnie who stole second and third within 4 pitches. BC needed a two-out base hit to score him though... instead came a strikeout to end another tough inning. Then the 6th came around, where BC was on the wrong end of a couple calls in the frame that could’ve put them back in business. Alas, still nothing but zeroes on the scoreboard, and the game continues. 

Since those two guys reached in the bottom of the 2nd, Tregaskis had retired 12 straight with relative ease – no hard contact to speak of. The top of the Hosts’ order came up for the third time with one out in the 6th, breaking the streak of no baserunners by bouncing a single up the middle. The next batter grounded a double play ball to short, touching second for the force out, but the throw to first was wild, allowing the batter-runner to make it safely to second base with two out. Then came the defensive play of the tournament for Team BC. The Hosts’ #3 hitter found a hole through the right side for a base hit, the go-ahead run rounding third base. Nathan Reynolds charged it do-or-die style, fielded it cleanly on the rough outfield grass and fired a one-hop bullet to home plate for his catcher Mangat to apply the tag on the baserunner, stopping him dead in his tracks. What a moment for the veteran from North Delta, giving the Hosts a taste of their own medicine and breathing new life into Team BC heading to the 7th. 

 The stage was set for “The Hit.” With two out and Redpath on second, Jack Bello barrelled up a deep flyball to left centre that would’ve been a no-doubt home run on most bantam fields. Parc Paul-Marcel-Maheu was built like a small-ish full-sized field, so this one was staying in the yard, and the Hosts’ centre fielder had a chance to track this ball down. As this ball was in the air, you got the feeling that whether this ball was caught or not would determine the winner of this ball game. It is a game of inches after all, and thankfully for Team BC, it dropped an inch out of the reach of the leaping centre-fielder, as Bello hustled into third base and busted out the (cringey by his standards) celebratory Fortnite dance. Redpath jogged home and admired “The Hit” in doing so, scoring the only run Team BC needed in just your regular everyday intense ball game. Mason Dubnov struck out the final batter of the game on three pitches in relief of Tregaskis, who reached his pitch maximum with one out remaining. Team BC shook it up on the field to celebrate not only another epic win, but also punching their ticket to compete for a National title in two days time. 

Team Ontario 8, Team BC 3 

A trio of 2nd inning errors helped spot Team Ontario an early 6-0 advantage, and they never looked back from there. The beautiful thing about clinching first place prior to playing their last game is Team BC got to give some other guys the chance to contribute.