A looming showdown in B.C. Baseball’s 15U Bantam AAA top tier is even more intriguing after the recent Richmond City Wooden Bat Tournament.
The league-leading Delta Tigers saw their run for the title halted in a 1-0 quarter-final loss to eventual champion West Coast Cardinals. The showdown featured superb pitching between the Tigers’ Boston Warkentin and the Cards’ Cody Hendriks. Each allowed just two hits. The game’s lone run came in the first inning.
West Coast received another outstanding start from Max Yuen in a 1-0 semi-final win over the B.C. Premier League’s North Shore Twins and went on to defeat Cowichan in the championship game.
The Tigers defeated Ridge Meadows 7-5 in consolation play after earlier capturing their pool group with easy wins over Cloverdale (7-3) and defending champion Okotoks (11-1).
Delta currently sits with an 19-0 regular season record and the Cardinals are right behind them at 17-1. The rivals are slated to meet June 9-10 in a four game series that will go a long way towards determining top spot and an automatic berth to Baseball B.C.’s national qualifying tournament in August.
The first doubleheader is slated for noon and 2:30 p.m. at Cromie Park in Ladner before the teams head to Maple Ridge on June 10.
Extra bases…
The Tigers will be well-represented on the Vancouver Coastal zone team that is headed to the B.C. Summer Games in July. The team includes Noah Thomas, Jordan Bach, Tanton McNeill, Willy Wilson, Ryan McCarthy and Warkentin. Luke Siemens is an alternate. Tigers’ head coach Cam Frick is joined by Keno Magano and Luke Yam on the coaching staff.
