Off to nationals
Charlottetown beats Summerside to earn P.E.I.’s berth at national bantam ch’ship
Charlottetown beats Summerside to earn P.E.I.’s berth at Baseball Canada’s bantam championship.
Connor McGregor was a force both in the field and at the plate.
As a result, the Charlottetown Royals are headed to the Baseball Canada national bantam championship in Vaughan, Ont., from Aug. 20 to 24.
The right-handed McGregor retired the first 11 batters he faced, pitched four-hit ball and allowed two runs while fanning 11 over 5 2/3 innings to earn the win as the Royals defeated the Summerside Chevys 9-4 in the championship game of the Baseball P.E.I. provincial bantam AAA elimination tournament.
Offensively, McGregor reached base three times in four plate appearances and scored three runs at Queen Elizabeth Park’s Legends Field on Sunday.
“It was one of my best (performances) ever,” said the 15-yearold McGregor, who is from Sherwood-Parkdale.
Gabriel Penalver recorded the game’s final four outs while starter Ben MacDougall was the pitcher of record for Summerside.
Hot pitcher
“We ran into a very hot pitcher with Charlottetown,” assessed Chevys head coach Dale MacDougall. “Hats off to Connor McGregor, he pitched a heck of a game.
“If we were able to eliminate a few little mistakes here and there, it would have been a closer ball game.”
After taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, the Royals took control with a five-run third inning.
They increased that margin to 7-0 in the top of the fourth.
“It was very important (to get the lead),” said McGregor. “It’s a lot easier because you don’t have any pressure on you.”
After Summerside scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, each team scored twice in the seventh.
Chances
The Chevys did have their chances to get back in the game. Summerside stranded eight runners in the final four innings, including six in scoring position.
“I’m very proud of these guys,” said Coach MacDougall. “We never say, ‘quit,’ and I don’t care if the score is 15-0 there’s a never-say-die attitude. I have a young team (seven first-year bantams), and it’s great battling with these guys.”
Patrick Young and Eric Anderson each drove in two runs for the Royals while Josh Dow had a run-scoring triple. Charlottetown scored two runs on fielder’s choices and one each on a wild pitch and passed ball.
McGregor praised the game calling of catcher Patrick Young.
“He called me a lot of fastballs because they couldn’t catch up with them,” said McGregor, who started a two-out rally in the first inning with an infield single. He stole second base and later scored on a wild pitch to give the Royals an early lead they would never relinquish. Charlottetown Royals would go on to score their first seven runs of the game all with two outs.