Mitch Rainer, KP Hlatky and the North Shore Twins have accomplished the impossible - winning a third straight B.C. Premier Baseball League (PBL) championship.
And they did it in dramatic fashion on a sweltering hot Sunday, Aug. 2, in Langley, winning 3-2 over the Fraser Valley Chiefs, scoring runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
Andrew Madsen played hero for the Twins with a two-out single in the seventh scoring George Halim.
Rainer said the bench exploded in jubilation when Halim slid into home.
"It was a mob scene. Elbows were flying everywhere," said Rainer. "Half of the team went and jumped on George and the other half went and jumped on Andrew. It was nothing but jubilation - what an awesome feeling."
Rainer picked up the win, his second of the weekend, allowing the two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks. He pitched the game on short rest and lobbied coach John Haar a day earlier for the start.
"I talked with John and he said he didn't want to send me down to Texas with a tired arm, but I told him this was my last game and I wanted the ball," recalled Rainer. "On Sunday, about 45 minutes before the game, John came to me and said I had put him in quite the dilemma. The other pitchers had all lobbied for me to pitch. I told John, just give me the ball.
"It's a great way to end my PBL career that's for sure. I'm heading to Texas on a major high. I don't quite think it's all hit me yet. I'm pretty tired right now, but tired in a good way."
Later this month, Rainer heads to Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas to play junior college baseball.
North Shore opened the final four tournament with a 5-0 win over North Delta on Friday night, July 31.
Rainer pitched a complete game allowing only two hits while striking out two.
KP, playing right field, had a great game at the plate with a double, a single and scored two runs.
North Shore was drubbed 9-1 by Langley on Saturday. Both Rainer and KP went 0-2 at the plate. Rainer played shortstop in that game.
In their final round robin game, North Shore edged the Chiefs 2-1. KP went two for three, as did Rainer with Rainer also picking up an RBI.
North Delta upset Langley Saturday night, meaning a playoff game was not needed, and set up the final on Sunday between the Twins and Chiefs who both finished the round robin with 2-1 records.
"It's unbelievable to be a part of this team," said KP. "When we got two guys on base in the seventh we just had a feeling sitting there on the bench that something was going to happen. When Andrew got that hit and George slid into home with the winning run, it was amazing."
KP didn't have much time to rest as he left Tuesday, Aug. 3 for Saskatchewan and the Canada Cup, U17 tournament playing for Team B.C. After that he plans to take a few weeks off, play fall ball with the Twins and enter his senior year with the Twins looking for a fourth championship.
"I'll be a senior next year and one of the leaders on the team, so that's exciting," he said. "We'll have a lot of targets on our back next year, but the goal is to win this again. It's going to be fun."
