The Fleetwood Marlins, aided by Sechelt Sluggers players Colton Vaughn and Dagan Benner, edged the Fleming Jr. Jets 4-3 on Monday, Aug. 3, in the gold medal game of the midget fastball Western Canadian Championships in Maple Ridge.
The tournament started with a round-robin elimination and ranking round, with each team playing four games. Games began on Friday, July 31, with the Marlins beating the Jets by a score of 9-6, and later the same day the Saskatoon Selects 7-1.
Saturday morning, Aug. 1, saw the dramatically outgunned Peguis Braves losing 16-3 to the Marlins.
The Marlins went into the last of the round robin games as the only undefeated team, before falling to the Jets in a crushing 10-0 loss. The loss pitted the Marlins against the Selects Monday morning, with the winner of that game playing in the championship game.
The Marlins came out hard against the Selects and were able to maintain an early lead to move them into the gold medal game.
The final game with the Jets saw the evenly matched teams running neck and neck, with the Marlins taking an early lead, the Jets edging ahead late in the game, and the Marlins clawing out a one run lead in the last inning. The Jets had the tying run on third, but were unable to capitalize on the opportunity, and took the third out of the inning with runners stranded on second and third, giving the Marlins the win.
Sluggers' coaches Colleen Vaughn and Tim Hayward, recently back from a provincial championship win, were on hand in Maple Ridge for the tournament. Coach Vaughn confirmed that Colton and Dagan played key roles, playing the entire tournament from the first pitch to the last, and were recognized by the Fleetwood coaching staff as being vital to the team's success.
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