A trio of Richmond players will conclude their youth baseball careers at the U18 Canadian Championships in Kitchener, Ont.
Peter Broderick, Reid Dawson and Dustin McElwain helped the North Delta Blue Jays capture Baseball B.C.’s recent national qualifier tournament in Whalley with a perfect record. All three came through the Richmond City Baseball Association before shifting over to the B.C. Premier League.
Broderick has enjoyed an outstanding campaign in the Jays’ outfield, capturing the PBL batting title with a .423 average. The Steveston-London graduate also ranked first in on-base percentage and third in both runs scored and stolen bases. He will be continuing his career with the UBC junior varsity program next season while enrolled in the Sauder School of Business.
Dawson was a valuable member of the Jays pitching staff with 3.25 ERA in over 75 innings of work. The 6-foot-2 right-hander also recorded 48 strikeouts in 14 starts. The McMath grad will be playing for Douglas College next season.
McElwain was also a member of the Jays’ outfield. The Steveston-London grad batted .242 and drove in seven runs. He will be continuing his career at Concordia College in Portland.
The national qualifier tournament brought together teams from the PBL along with B.C. Minor’s College Prep League. The PBL’s Blue Jays and host Whalley Chiefs were joined by the Chilliwack Cougars, Cloverdale Nationals, Kelowna Sun Devils, Tri-Cities Thunder, and Ridge Meadows Royals.
The Blue Jays opened the championships with a 1-0 win over Kelowna — scoring the game’s only run in the top of the seventh. A 16-1 win followed hours later against Tri-Cities.
They completed round-robin play with victories over Ridge Meadows (3-2) and Whalley (11-1) — before taking care of Kelowna again in the semi-finals, 8-5.
The perfect run was completed with a 6-3 triumph over the Royals in the championship game.
The Canadian Championships take place Aug. 15-18.
