The Gibsons all-star peewee squad capped off a great season with a trip to the provincial finals in Campbell River Aug. 3 to 7.
Gibsons was in tough against the other competition, but still put in a strong showing representing the Coast with pride."It had been a long time since a Gibsons peewee AA team had made it this far, so the team objective of getting to the provincials had been met," said head coach Brian Scarr.
Gibsons had to compile a record of at least 2-2 in the preliminary round to qualify for the playoffs. Gibsons played well, but in the end fell to stronger opposition, finishing with a record of 1-3.
Gibsons lost their opener 17-9 to Parksville.
Parksville finished second in the Vancouver Island division and had size and strength in their line-up.
The outstanding pitching and powerful hitting of the Oceanside crew was too much for Gibsons. Even though the game was tied for much of the seven innings a tough seventh inning defensively for Gibsons resulted in the loss.
"This was tough on the boys as the Parksville team put three long ball home runs over the fence where we couldn't reach them," Scarr added.
James Duff, Chris and Taylor Hanchar made notable hits while team MVP was James.
In game two Gibsons played the eventual provincial champs Vernon. Again it was another tough game as Vernon used their "big bats" in an 8-1 win.
Thomas Scarr was named MVP for Gibsons.
Game three was a much closer affair against a familiar foe - Abbotsford.
"After beating us quite easily in early July the body language of the Abbotsford team before the game indicated they thought this was going to be a cake walk," said Scarr. "Strong pitching from Malcolm Leinberger early on kept things very tight. The game was tied until the sixth inning, but some bad breaks shook our resolve. Our focus was lost and several defensive errors were made allowing Abbottsford to take the lead into the seventh inning."
Gibsons rallied with a number of key hits, but it wasn't enough as Abbotsford held on for the 6-4 win.
Team MVP went to Grady Benner for his awesome work behind the plate as catcher and for strong hitting.
Gibsons final game was against Newton. Gibsons ended the tournament on a high note with an impressive 13-3 win.
Offensively the Gibsons batters hammered the Newton pitchers. Connor Cross crushed several to the fence. Lee Jensen and Dave Diether also sent deep hits that resulted in scored runs and Jason Chung blasted two long balls way out of the park. Team MVP went to Jason for his crushing home runs and excellent defence on first base.
"All the coaches and parents are extremely proud of this team," he added. "Many had wagered against them even making it to provincials. Not only did they make it, they went in style, finishing fourth overall in the Lower Mainland qualifying round in July. At the tourney they scrapped with the eventual first and second place teams in the province. They lost a nailbitter to the Lower Mainland's number one team, and really should have won the game. They earned the respect of all teams at the tourney with their gritty play and were awarded the most sportsmanlike team. That's quite the honor."
The Midget all-stars were at the provincials last weekend. Look for a re-cap in the Aug. 25 edition of Coast Reporter sports.
