South Vancouver 8 - 0 White Rock
Walnut Grove – For the first time in club history, South Vancouver will compete for a national title at the Little League Canadian Championship. The all-stars played a determined, well-rounded provincial final and slowly whittled away the defending B.C. champs from White Rock at George Zarrelli Diamond in Walnut Grove where North Langley Little League hosted the final July 28.
Starter Joe Sinclair shut out White Rock over six complete innings and came away with the 8-0 win.
“This was definitely the biggest game I’ve ever pitched,” he said. “I felt a little nervous before the game but once I got that fist strike in, I felt fine.”
Sinclair’s first three pitches were strikes and he sent the first three batters packing. In the seven innings he pitched leading up to the tournament final, Sinclair allowed only three hits and two runs. After the final, his ERA dropped to 0.54 and his total strike outs climbed to 27.
“The cutter on the inside corner, that was working for me the entire day,” he said Monday evening as his teammates doused manager Brian Perry with water from bottles and a cooler.
South Vancouver cracked the scoreless stalemate in the bottom of the third inning by patiently building a lead one run and a time. Daniel Suarez loaded the bases on a bunt, and Josh Matsui hit a fast grounder past the shortstop to bring Sinclair home and take a 1-0 lead with no outs. Madjik Mackenzie, batting .609 with three home runs, stepped to the plate and hit a double to deep centre field that scored Nico Cole. Suarez slid home but couldn’t beat an excellent relay throw from the outfield.
Mackenzie had bid his time at the plate, taking the advice of his father, who is one of the team coaches, to pass on the fastball but hit an outside pitch down the line to left field.
“I was kind of nervous,” said Mackenzie, “but my dad came to calm me down. He told me [the pitcher] is most likely going to throw a curve. It was outside and low.”
Matsui stole home on a wild pitch to give South Van a 3-0 lead and his teammates a lot of confidence.
White Rock brought in a new pitcher in the fifth inning, putting Holden Chuminsky in for Lukas Frers who’d reached the 85-pitch limit and had loaded the bases.
South Van scored five more runs. Mackenzie started with a two-RBI double and Evan March followed with another 2-RBI dinger, this one off the outfield fence, to take a 7-0 lead. Nico Cole gave Vancouver its eighth run when he stole home on yet another wild pitch.
With just three outs between South Vancouver and their first B.C. Championship in 38 years, officials called for a weather delay so the White Rock batters would not be blinded by the setting sun.
“A good team like White Rock can always come back, you never know,” said manager Perry. “I’ve seen games where eight-run leads have disappeared, so until we got the last out in the last inning, I was never happy, I guess.”
Half an hour later, the game picked up and Vancouver put it back down, this time for good. For the last out, catcher Evan March pounced on a grounder and put it in the glove of his sister at first base.
“Once we got that last out, it was a great feeling, especially after all these years,” said Perry.
The South Vancouver all-stars leave Wednesday morning for Valleyfield, Que. for the 2014 Canadian Championship. The winner represents the country at the 75th Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Aug. 14 to 25.
