It took some Sunday afternoon number crunching to learn the host’s fate at the B.C. Baseball’s U15 AA Provincial Championships.
The Richmond Chuckers not only had to win their final robin-game against Tri-Cities, it had to be by a certain score with a premium on defensive runs. In the end, a 13-7 triumph wasn’t enough for Richmond to advance to the semi-finals in the 10-team event.
The Chuckers entered the championships among the contenders, having put together a solid season that included a tournament triumph in Cloverdale just weeks earlier. They opened with an impressive 12-3 victory over Rutland on Friday.
It was a tough pair of games on Saturday that put them behind the 8-ball. The locals dropped a 9-2 decision to Cloverdale, then were edged by pool group winner and eventual silver medalist Burnaby, 10-7.
Richmond’s only hope was to beat Tri-Cities and Burnaby to knockoff Cloverdale to create a three-way logjam for second place and the other semi-final spot. Burnaby cooperated with a 4-2 win, but the runs against tiebreaker still gave Cloverdale the upper hand.
The Chuckers had to beat Tri-Cities and surrender three runs or less. The Coquitlam squad did much of its damage in the early going — eliminating Richmond by the fourth inning.
“In the end it came down to what it always does and we just made too many errors in key situations,” said Chuckers head coach Derek Howells. “We had a tough couple of games on Saturday and it put us in a difficult spot.”
Howells noted his team didn’t receive much of a break either — facing Cloverdale and Burnaby’s top pitchers.
Still, it was a season that saw plenty accomplished with a roster that featured eight first-year Bantam players that could all make the jump to the Chuckers’ AAA program next season.
“All 12 of our players got every opportunity to play and that’s the most important thing, especially for their development, added Howells who is also vice-president of Richmond City Baseball.
“It was nice for the boys to end the season on a winning note.”
Howells also had high praise for parent volunteers who gave up their long weekend to run a successful tournament over the four days.
Victoria slipped past Cloversale 9-8 in the semi-finals, then captured gold with a 6-4 win over Burnaby.
Richmond City Baseball now shifts its attention to the Provincial Midget AA Championships which take place next weekend at Latrace Field.
