Cold, windy, rainy and even snowy weather in early April has caused the baseball season to get off to a slow start.
The midget teams (ages 16 to 18) from Sechelt and Gibsons each had three games cancelled due to unsuitable weather. However, the teams did get into action on April 17 with Gibsons Coastal Tires winning both of their games in Newton by large scores. Brendan Barnum, Cosme Hlatky, Josh Bozak and Tayler Hanchar got off to impressive starts and look to be team leaders this season. Brendan, Cosme and third-year veteran David Diether all kicked in with six hits apiece.
While the Gibsons' team was in Newton, the Sechelt Athletics opened its season at Ryan Dempster Field and handily won the second game of their double header against the Surrey Cubs after tying the first game.
On Sundays fans can come to Ryan Dempster Field to watch either of the two local midget teams play double headers with games at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, the two Gibsons bantam teams (ages 13 to 14) opened their seasons at Ryan Dempster on Saturday, April 16, against a visiting team from their Vancouver/Burnaby interlock league. Both teams lost evenly played games against the visitors and looked good despite the disadvantage of playing an opponent that had already played games in Vancouver.
On Sunday, the Gibsons Maycon and Gibsons Devlins teams travelled to Vancouver where they earned a split in the two games played.
Saturdays at Dempster Field is the time to come out and watch the bantam boys play.
After arriving at the field for the first big local game of the year on April 14, the midget players were disappointed to be sent back home due to the wet field conditions and cold rain.
A week later, with weather conditions much better for playing baseball, the Sechelt Athletics and Gibsons Coastal Tires squared off in the first of their four seasonal games at the RD Field. Gibsons jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first and nervously held that lead until pulling away in the fourth to win 9-0.
First year pitchers Cosme, Josh and Sebastian Strange combined for four shutout innings, while Jonah Lussier threw a strong three innings for the Athletics.
With the bantams and midgets already in league action, and the junior men's team beginning league play in May, Ryan Dempster Field will be a busy place for baseball action in the weeks ahead.
-Submitted
