On a miserable day when they had a rake in their hands more than a baseball bat, the host Delta Blue Jays are champions for the first time in the brief history of the Kyle Losse Memorial Tournament.
The Blue Jays doubled the Victoria Eagles 4-2 in what proved to be the 15U title game of the rain-shortened event at Tsawwassen’s Winskill Park.
The teams actually began the day squaring off in one of the two semi-finals on Sunday morning when a steady downpour brought the games to a halt around noon. Following a rain delay, Blue Jays coaches, players and volunteers worked feverishly to get the diamonds playable again by hauling in and raking sand, especially the pitching mound and around home plate.
The rain eventually eased to a mist but the Coquitlam Reds and Langley Blaze agreed not to continue and walked away from the tournament with the Reds leading 4-1 at the time. That instantly turned the Delta/Victoria tilt into the final with the game tied at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. The teams vacated Ray Carter Field and finished play on the Bantam diamond where Delta scored twice in the fifth to break the deadlock.
The plan was to play the championship game on Monday had the Blue Jays prevailed but they gladly will take the tournament win after finishing runner-up in 2018 and 2019. They did it with superb pitching throughout the four days, highlighted by shutout wins in round-robin play over Tri-City (4-0), Calgary (5-0) and Nanaimo (3-0). They also edged the Eagles 4-3 to secure the No. 1 playoff seed in the 15-team event.
It was only fitting the tourney championship run was led by a pair of Tsawwassen players at their hometown park. Pitcher Desmond Tregaskis was named tournament MVP thanks to a pair of saves and the win in the championship game, working 6-2/3 innings in total. Nathaniel Kolmel earned the top hitter award, driving in seven runs.
The Blue Jays will turn their attention back to the stretch run of the B.C. Premier Bantam League regular season where they sit second in the standings with a 29-9 record.
Extra Innings…
The Richmond City Chuckers overcame the rain to capture the Losse 13U title with wins over South Okanagan and Vernon on Sunday.
