Knights win provincial championship
In the biggest game of his life, Preston Weightman saved his best for last.
The Prince George Jepson Petroleum Knights used that positive energy Weightman was creating to put a lock on the BC Minor Baseball 15U bantam double A provincial championship.
His home run to lead off the fourth inning took the steam out of the Cowichan Valley Mustangs’ rally and he went on to pitch four scoreless innings the rest of the game to beat the Mustangs 15-7.
“What’s going through my mind is all the hard work we put in all season for this day, just coming through and shutting it down and getting this trophy in front of everybody,” said Weightman.
“I think it was really good that I had a chance to come in and strike everybody out and I had an impact on us winning this tournament. I finally got a good barrel today, hitting my home run. I had to stay confident all weekend because I knew I’d have my chance.”
Weightman, the Knights’ regular shortstop, had been struggling at the plate in the tournament but went 3-for-5 in the final, including his timely home run, which reversed the trend just when it looking like the game was slipping away on the Knights.
The second inning produced some significant offence from both teams. The Knights scored eight in the top half to add to the 1-0 lead Weightman had given them in the first inning and the Mustangs answered with seven runs in the bottom of the second to create some nervous tension among the Knights’ spectators gathered at Nechako Park.
The Knights already had one run across in the second when Chase Martin singled into the gap between second and third to score Caleb Poitras and Tyson Ramsay. Weightman beat out a throw to first base and got to third after Logan Dreher’s grounder to right field scored Lucas Langevin and Chase Martin, who just beat the tag at home for a 6-0 lead.
Jace Hamm took over the ball from Cowichan starter Dylan Gage and the first batter he faced, Brenden Gaboury, took a golf swing at a low pitch, sending the ball on a slicing arc into the outfield for an RBI single. Noah Lank then doubled in two more for a 9-0 lead.
A couple of defensive lapses proved costly to the Knights in the Cowichan half of the inning. Poitras, the Prince George pitcher, gave up his first run on a groundout from Sel Patterson and Ben Shugar then hit a liner that got through the legs of first baseman Parker McBurnie to score another run with two Mustangs already retired. The next batter, Myles Pastuck doubled in a third run and Gage beat out a weak throw to first for an RBI single. That set the stage for Hamm, the tournament home run derby champion, and he took a Poitras pitch over the centre field fence to reduce the deficit to 9-7.
The Knights rediscovered the pop in their bats in a three-run fifth inning for a 13-7 lead, and in the sixth Parker McBurnie delivered a two-run home run which capped the scoring.
“I’ve never been more proud of these kids, the way they handled themselves,” said Knights manager Curtis Sawchuk. “We were up with a 9-0 lead early in the game and they came back with seven and we could have easily folded but they stuck together. They’ve done everything we’ve asked of them all year.
“Preston was a guy who was just missing them all weekend, getting good swings on the bat, but he stuck to it and stayed positive and put the team before himself. He said this was my time to win and did not let them crawl back into the game at all.”
Poitras gave up five hits and seven runs in three innings, walking just one batter. Weightman finished up with five strikeouts.
“He came in and shut the door and he saved me,” said Poitras. “His solo shot got the boys pumped and we started rolling after that.”
The Knights were provincial runners-up last year and captain James Yandeau said his team did not want to settle for second-best again.
“Just that rebound from last year, to be able to win and have that feeling is crazy, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Yandeau. “Those last six outs we had to have there, that’s when the nerves kicked in but we kept talking and played good D. They couldn’t touch Preston.”
The PG Surg Med Knights ran on to the field with the bantams for the post-game celebration, back from winning the double-A midget crown Sunday in Kelowna. It’s the first time in 32 years the bantams and midgets have won provincials in the same season.
“This feels a whole lot better than last year,” said Gaboury, the Knights catcher, who ended the fourth inning with laser from home plate to gun down Dylan Battye trying to steal second base. “Having that home crowd and having our friends come out on the field to celebrate with us was pretty special. (The Mustangs) were a great team, we just came out better on this one.”
The Knights beat the Tri City Thunder 20-9 in a semifinal playoff earlier Tuesday, while the Mustangs topped the North Langley Trappers 19-5 in their semifinal. Both teams were undefeated at 5-0 going into the final.
“The boys were a little rough out of the gates and it was hard to bounce back. The game was a little more well-matched from that point,” said Mustangs head coach Trevor Bull.
“We played these guys twice in Kamloops and got them both times but this time they had our number and good on ‘em, they’re a really good ball club and I’m looking forward to competing against them next weekend in Chilliwack.”
The Knights and Mustangs will both be back on the field Thursday in Chilliwack for the Baseball BC provincial championship. The winner of that 10-tear-tournament will represent B.C. at the Western Canadian championship in Strathmore, Alta., Aug. 15-18.
“I sure hope we have two tournaments left in us because the confidence coming from this is just going to boost us,” said Weightman.
Weightman has been picked for the Baseball BC U-15 all-star team, while McBurnie made the Baseball BC U-14 select team for tournaments in Washington in September.