Richmond City Baseball’s top midget age team is ready to step up to B.C. Minor’s highest tier for the 2017 season.
The Chuckers have applied to the provincial organization to join the College Prep level thanks to a solid roster that will have all but two players returning.
Richmond is coming off a 22-12 regular season and a competitive showing at last weekend’s B.C. Minor U18AAA Championships at Minoru Park’s Latrace Field. The hosts finished just out of playoff contention with a 1-2 record after three very tight games.
The Chuckers also got a taste of the elite level when they participated in last month’s Baseball B.C. provincial championship in White Rock which featured teams from all tiers.
“We have let our players and parents know we have applied to move up next year,” said longtime Chuckers head coach Raul Verde Rios. “Ideally, we hope to be a middle of the pack team and, more importantly, present a new challenge and learning experience for our players. We want to provide the opportunity to stay right in Richmond if they want to play at a higher level.”
The Chuckers’ pitching staff and team defence certainly looks like will be ready to take on the top teams.
The hosts opened the championships with a 3-0 win over Burnaby, before dropping a tough 4-3 decision to Victoria on Saturday morning. The Island squad erased a 3-0 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. That put the Chuckers in a must-win situation Sunday afternoon against Cowichan Valley.
In another low scoring nail-biter, the visitors struck twice in the top of the seventh to pull out a 2-0 victory. Cowichan went on to defeat Burnaby in the championship game — a reflection of how tough Richmond’s pool group was. The locals surrendered just six runs in their three games.
“It has kind of been like that for us all season,” added Verde Rios. “We just weren’t able to come up with that big hit when we really needed it. If you look at all the scores, other than a couple of blowouts, it was great pitching and defence all weekend from everyone. It was one of those tournaments where an error could end up costing you a valuable run.
“It was outstanding baseball.”
Extra innings…
The hosts also turned in a competitive showing at the B.C. Minor Mosquito “A” Championships for 10-year-olds at RC Palmer.
The Chuckers opened with losses to Victoria and Cloverdale. They rebounded with wins over Ladner (13-12) and Prince George (13-5) but the 2-2 record wasn’t enough to advance to the semi-finals.
Victoria edged White Rock 8-7 in what proved to be a thrilling championship game.
This weekend, the Chuckers U13AAA and U15AAA teams are in action at their B.C. Minor championship tournaments in Duncan and Nanaimo respectively. Richmond is the defending champion at the U13AAA level.
