What marked an end to an impressive summer season, the 18U AA Ladner Red Sox earned silver at this year’s B.C. Minor Baseball provincial championships in Mission.
Finishing the summer season playdowns with an 8-3 record to secure their trip to the eastern Fraser Valley, the Red Sox advanced through pool play in first place on their side of the eight-team draw after beating Aldergrove 5-4 in a must-win round-robin encounter.
A game that started with the evening sun and finished almost three hours later under the lights, the Red Sox battled against a tough, hard throwing Aldergrove pitcher, while Ladner used the first year tandem of Owen Macool and Marcus Taylor on the mound. Defensively, the speedy Red Sox outfield trio of Kai Jesson and Ryley Ferguson, centred by Josh Robie, didn’t let a single fly ball hit the playing field.
The win set- up a semi-final rematch against Vancouver Minor, a team Ladner had lost to in the regular season. With a gritty complete game performance from starting pitcher Quincy Chong and backstopped with continued outstanding team defense, the Red Sox pulled out a 5-3 win, highlighted by a crushing home run by Ben Lakeland.
It was in the championship game against the undefeated Vancouver Mounties where the mental and physical fatigue had finally caught up with the Red Sox, losing 7-2.
Although it was the second year in a row to lose to the Mounties in the provincial final, it felt much different this year as the team was not expected to return to the championship game.
The much younger team, led by graduating players Casey Cartlidge, Quincy Chong, Mason Roberts, Josh Robie and Daniel Shorman, was able to quickly gel to get the most out of its compressed summer season.
The 2023 18U AA Red Sox included: Alex Paddle, Ben Lakeland, Casey Cartlidge, Daniel Shorman, Josh Robie, Kai Jesson, Marcus Taylor, Mason Roberts, Nate Kirkbride, Owen Macool, Quincy Chong, Ryley Ferguson and bat boy Hunter Jesson.
The coaching staff featured: Brian Yamasaki, Colin Robie, Doug Shorman, Steve Chong and Travis Taylor.
