Coast mountain bike riders, part of Team BC Cycling, had several top performances at last weekend's national downhill championships in Panorama.
In elite women, Halfmoon Bay's Kath-erine Short just missed the podium, finishing fourth. In junior men, Gibsons Harrison Duxbury-Sleep was sixth while Roberts Creek's Forrest Riesco was 10th.
Jays close out regular season
The Gibsons Jays junior men's team closed the regular season in a downturn last weekend, losing two home games on Saturday at Ryan Dempster Field, to the Aldergrove Cubs 9-3 and to Surrey 4-2.
In an away game on Sunday, they lost to Ridge Meadows 10-5.
According to manager Gary Pennington, the story in all three games was a lack of consistent pitching and hitting.
"While the weekend results were not good in the win column, there were some outstanding performances," said Pennington. "In the pitching department, relievers Ameer Ismail and Dave Moran did outstanding jobs to close out games. Ameer, at only 17, was in command of batters on both days, showing good maturity on the mound."
He said there were many fielding gems including plays by Dave Moran, Tim Scarr, Greg Kelley, Dom Acciaroli and Jason Chung.
Catchers James Pomfret and Evan Murphy played stellar behind the plate throwing out runners a number of times and blocking wild pitches to save runs. Pomfret showed great leadership and stamina in catching two nine-inning games in very hot weather. At the plate, Evan Murphy, Scarr, Bird Brackett and Nick Pennington led the way for the Jays.
Scarr continued his hitting streak with some timely blows. Zach Ruggles broke out of a batting slump with a couple of good hits, while Nate Petzold got a big hit late in the Sunday game to score runners and to get the game within reach. Pennington stole three bases in one of the Saturday games with aggressive base running.
Pennington said a positive feature of the week was a practice at the new Sechelt ball park behind Chatelech Secondary School.
"The team was appreciative of the chance to use the field for the first time and congratulates Bob Mercer and his Sechelt baseball colleagues for the fine job they have done in developing the facility," Pennington said.
Next up for the Jays are league playoffs beginning the first week in August.
The ball club will be practising hard to make a good showing in these playoffs. The coaches want to thank Brandon Elsdon, Moran, Pomfret and Scarr for the leadership they have provided during the season and as the team heads into the playoffs.
