What a finish for Central Baseball League's (CBL) first ever peewee all-star team. The team walked away with silver medals after an amazing second place finish at the provincial championship in Kelowna earlier this month.
Just to qualify, each team had to finish in the top two in their division after playing eight games. A total of ten teams attended the provincials.
In order for Sechelt to finish in the top two in their division and qualify for the provincials, they needed to win their last game against Vancouver.
On July 22 Sechelt beat Vancouver 9-0. Josh Dolhanty and Miles Lavigne each pitched half the game. That win sent the team to Kelowna.
Sechelt's first game was against Cloverdale. Sechelt played a near perfect game, winning 6-3.
Sechelt lost their next game against Ladysmith, but went on to win their next two games against Newton and Rutland for a 3-1 record and a berth in the semifinal against Ladner.
Sechelt was up by one run in the seventh when Ladner tied it up, sending the game into extra innings.
In the eighth inning, Nolan Caldwell led off with a triple, setting the stage for Miles who later hit him in to score the winning run.
In the final, Sechelt faced Coquitlam/Port Moody and came out a bit flat, but overall achieved an amazing result thanks to team work, ability and, of course, good coaching.
Other weekend highlights were a pair of home runs by Josh in the Ladysmith game and by TJ Thelner against Rutland.
Game MVPs were Josh, Caleb Burnham, Miles, TJ, Nolan and Luke Kalenuik.
CBL was started in 1997 to offer kids from Wilson Creek to Pender Harbour traditional baseball. 2009 marked the year of the all-star team. The league hopes that more coaches and kids will continue to get involved and keep improving on the level of baseball played on the Coast.
John and Deanna Dolhanty plan to organize a bantam team next year.
Special thanks go to James Pomfret for coaching and Michael Lavigne of Trails End Construction for sponsoring the team.
- Submitted
