A Bull-ish comeback
To borrow from the Chumbawamba “Tubthumping” song, the Lethbridge Junior Bulls got knocked down, but they got back up again.
The song easily predates the members of the baseball team, but the Junior Bulls took the song sentiment to heart and are off to a 1-0 start at the Junior Little League Canadian Championship following a 12-8 win over the Alberta representative Medicine Hat AAA All-Stars Sunday afternoon at Spitz Stadium.
Trailing Alberta 5-1 after five innings under a blazing sun at Spitz Stadium, the Junior Bulls charged back with five runs in the sixth inning and six more in the seventh as Day 1 took the field Sunday.
“I can’t be more proud of them right now,” said Junior Bulls head coach Wade Pearce. “They showed a little bit of adversity today and hung in there. We put up that one big inning and a lot of teams with 15-year-old boys, they could crumble and they didn’t. They just kept plugging away and good things started happening. You get on a roll and everything just went our way.
“It just started out with that one inning. We got a couple of singles in a row and the mood went from down to up and those things are contagious. Everybody jumped on board and just kept going. It was good.”
Tyson Johnson earned the win for the Junior Bulls, throwing one and two-thirds innings, giving up one run and striking out one. He also went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
“I thought we did pretty good,” said Johnson. “Most teams would want to bury their heads in the ground and give up after that beginning. We did for a little bit and then we came back and scored those runs and just kept it going. Hopefully we can keep it going during the tournament.”
As they head into the week as part of the six-team field looking for the national title that will send them to the Little League World Series in Taylor, Michigan, the Junior Bulls do so with a roster full of players used to high-stakes ball.
“Between last year’s Nationals in Medicine Hat for the Major Division and Intermediates in Langley last year, they’re aware of the pressure and maybe that’s how they were able to handle it today,” said Pearce.
Johnson is among those players familiar with those nationals pressure cookers.
“It’s a big deal because of what’s on the line,” he said. “You can go to the World Series (in Taylor, Michigan) and represent your country. Just have that veteran experience before, you know what to expect. You’re not shaky in the first game.”
The Junior Bulls are back on the diamond tonight when they take on Quebec representative Mirable Diamond League in the final game at 7:30 p.m.
Quebec started nationals with a 12-1 win over the Team Atlantic Cape Breton Sooners Sunday afternoon.
“They’ll be tough,” said Pearce. “We went through some arms today, but I think if we just stick to our game plan of beating the teams we know we need to beat, we’re good.”
Lethbridge put up 15 hits Sunday, led by Zane Wittke, who batted 3-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI.
Shayne McTavish was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Jaxon Filipenko was 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI.
Sebastian Diaz Sanchez batted 2-for-3, also with one run scored and one RBI.
For Medicine Hat, Evan Morrison hit 3-for-4 with one run scored and Kayden Hleucka was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and one RBI.
In the first game Sunday, Quebec scored 10 runs in the first inning en route to the fiveinning, 10-run win.
Christophe Pepage was 2for-2 with one run scored and three RBI for Mirable Diamond League.
Louis-Felix Anderson and Stefano Paolucci each had two RBI.
Benjamin Perreault-Jutras was the winning pitcher for Quebec, going two and onethird innings, allowing two hits and walking one.
B.C. representatives Fraser Valley and Ontario’s East Nepean Eagles from Ottawa were playing Sunday night at press time.
The Eagles and Medicine Hat All Stars start the games today at noon.
The Sooners and Fraser Valley follow at 3:30 p.m., followed by the Junior Bulls and Quebec at 7 p.m.
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