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Disappointment is evident on the players faces as the Rutland Rockies wear their silver medals for placing second at the Bantam AAA Provincial Championships. (Photo Chris Stanford)
By Chris Stanford
Eight runs in the bottom of the seventh and final inning were enough to seal a miracle comeback as the Burnaby Braves shocked the Rutland Rockies 15-13 and came away with the gold medals in the finals of the Bantam AAA Provincial Championships at Edith Gay park Sunday afternoon.
The Burnaby bench erupted as Mike Van Hombeeck stroked a two-run shot that floated over the left centrefield fence and ended a thriller of a game. The disappointment was clearly evident on the faces of the Rockies as the Braves mobbed Van Hombeeck, who
Burnaby’s bats proved to be the difference as they sent three long-range shots, including Van Hombeeck’s, over the fence in the seventh in a do-or-die effort that earned them the gold medals and a spot at the Canadian championships in two weeks in Ontario.
“I’ve probably played almost 2,000 games myself, and I’ve only seen that happen once,” said Rockies head coach Mike Senger following the game. In their half of the seventh, the Rockies had jumped out to a 13-7 lead with five runs on two hits and did their best to shut down Burnaby defensively and get the three outs they needed, but it didn’t happen that way. It also didn’t help the Rockies that a stiff breeze was blowing out to left field, and when the Braves managed to get under a few with some good contact, the Rockies could only watch them sail away.
“When you’re pitching good fastballs and guys are hitting 300-foot shots, well, that’s just part of the game,” he added. Immediately after the defeat, Senger collected his players and spoke to them out in right field. “I told them I’ve seen a lot of stuff in my days, ” he said. “As you get older you learn from it . . . you might win, you might not.”
The Rockies were led offensively by shortstop Sam Kwasnycia, who belted a pair of doubles, and Alex Ballingall who contributed three singles. Cole Depner and Dallas Senger were awarded golden gloves for their outstanding defensive play, while Kwasnycia and Josh Wyatt were voted MVP’s of the game for the Rockies.
While the Braves will make the trip to Ontario to represent B.C. at the national championships in two weeks, the Rockies will go on to the Western Canadian Championships in Port Coquitlam the same weekend.
Coming into the tournament, the seventh-seeded Rockies looked to be in tough. They showed what they were capable of, however, dispensing with third-place North Delta 21-11 in their fourth game, and beating fifth-place Abbotsford 12-6 in the semi-finals to earn their way into the finals.
Despite the disappointment though, Mike Senger was quick to offer his congratulations to Burnaby afterwards. “You’ve got to give credit to the other team. They stayed focused and they hit the ball hard,” he added. “It’s different if you get a little bloop over the infield, or a little line drive, but they just hit the ball. They deserved it.”
sports@kelowna.com/(250)575-3981
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- Disappointment is evident on the players faces as the Rutland Rockies wear their silver medals for placing second at the Bantam AAA Provincial Championships. (Photo Chris Stanford)
2 Responses to “Disappointment for Rockies at provincials”
Tags: Bantam AAA provincials, Baseball
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It’s not Van Hoenbeek, it’s Van Hombeeck.
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Thanks for the note. We have made the correction.
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