South Vancouver 9 - 3 Little Mountain
Walnut Grove — Trailing by a run in the bottom of the fourth, the South Vancouver all-stars blew open the game against Little Mountain with eight runs and a dramatic three-run home run off the bat of Evan March.
March, 12, came to the plate for his second time that inning after South Van hit through their line up and, to the continued frustration of Little Mountain, scored all eight runs with two outs on the board.
On a 3-2 pitch, March’s shot carried the ball just deep enough to round the bases with ease and give South Van a 9-1 lead.
“I saw there was a runner on first and third and I wanted to get the ball in play,” said March. “I just wanted a single so the runners could come home. I saw the ball right in my strike zone, I loaded back and crushed it.”
His homer bounced off the top of the outfield fence and was brought to his parents in the stands.
“I was thinking, I wish it could go on forever,” said South Van manager Brian Perry. “I was worried at that stage because we were down 1-0 but then everything just clicked.”
Returning to the Little League B.C. Championship for the first time since 1978, South Van entered Monday’s round-robin game with a clean 2-0 record. Little Mountain, the B.C. champions in 2010, fell to 1-1 at George Zarrelli Diamond where North Langley Little League hosts the B.C. Championship this week.
The semifinals are July 26 and the final game is at noon July 27.
Little Mountain opened scoring with a single run in the second inning on a series of unusual plays. Liam Stanley was hit by a pitch but rounded the bases from first on a dribbler off the bat of Trew Petersen. What should have been a routine put-out to first was knocked out of the glove of first baseman Emma March as her glove (and the ball in it) caught Petersen in the face and the ball was knocked loose. On heads-up base running, Stanley scored the go-ahead run.
Perry came onto the field to argue the play, but the umpires ruled the runner arrived before the ball.
Starting South Van pitcher Joseph Sinclair worked his count up to 65 and threw six strikes in three innings with no hits and no runs earned. The five-foot-eight left-hander was awarded the win and will sit for the next two games.
On Tuesday South Vancouver plays Beacon Hill (2-0) and Little Mountain plays White Rock (1-1). South Vancouver has a bye Wednesday and Little Mountain plays Trail at 11 a.m.
