B2
SPORTS
Nanaimo News Bulletin Thursday, August 9, 2012
www.nanaimobulletin.com
AAthletics win title in Nanaimo The hot-hitting Okanagan Athletics beat the rest of the best and won the B.C. Premier Baseball League championship at Nanaimo’s Serauxmen Stadium. The A’s defeated the North Shore Twins 9-7 in Sunday’s final. Even though it took nine runs for the A’s to win, they know it took more than just bats to win the day. “Everybody came out the way they should, everybody was excited to play,” said Josh Croft, Athletics pitcher and shortstop. “It was a team effort by everybody. Pitchers came out throwing, batters came out hitting.” Okie built a 7-2 lead through four innings, but had to keep the hammer down to stay ahead of the previously undefeated Twins. Brandon Sonnenberg led the A’s with a single, triple and four RBIs and Croft hit two doubles
Premier Pirates proud after strong campaign ◆ From /B1 “If we had have been patient at the plate, our lineup’s stacked full of left-handed hitters and a lot of guys that can elevate the ball,” said Doug Rogers. “We didn’t get our pitches, we didn’t take advantage of that … We had as much of an advantage as any team here with the way the weather was, and the wind, and the way the ball was carrying.” Rogers said nerves might have contributed to the Pirates’ performance at provincials. Players swung at pitches outside the strike zone that they wouldn’t usually swing at, and made defensive mistakes that they didn’t often make during the regular season. In the first game against the Twins, there was an error on a potential double-play ball that would have got the Pirates out of the inning unscathed. Instead, the bases were loaded and the Twins followed up with their grand slam. “In any big tournament, if you make mistakes they end up costing you, where in the league you can get away with those mistakes,” Rogers said. “It seemed like every mistake we made, it ended up a number on the board against us.” So the Pirates had to watch the
GREG SAKAKI/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Okanagan Athletics catcher Morgan Lofstrom and his teammates celebrate their B.C. Premier Baseball League championship on Sunday at Serauxmen Stadium.
and a single and drove in two runs. Morgan Lofstrom threw two relief innings to earn the win and Croft came in for the save. “We had a great group of guys out here and we fed off each other,”
said Sonnenberg. “We bring a lot of energy to the table. Once things start getting rolling it seems like we can’t be stopped.” This year’s premier league championship is the first for the Ath-
letics franchise. “There’s no feeling like it,” said Croft. “It’s unbelievable, just the work that we’ve put in and to see the result we got, I couldn’t be any happier.” sports@nanaimobulletin.com
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B.C. final from Serauxmen Stadium’s stands, something that was hard to do, said the manager. Eight players graduate from the program, including Brendan McCarthy, Ben Dunbar, Colby Morgan, Bryan Odgers, Nathan Odgers, Chris Faber, Ryan Smith and Crosby Rushton. The returnees, led by Justin Clarkson, Griffin Andreychuk, Luke Skingle and possibly Alex Rogers and Brady Rogers, will get another crack next year. “The program itself is really healthy. You can see by the people in the stands. Players played hard on the field, did the proper things on and off the field…” Doug Rogers said. “Yeah, it would’ve been nice to win a championship and wave it around in front of everybody on your home field, but it just wasn’t meant to be. But if you look at the overall season, it was something to be really proud of.” BASE LINES … McCarthy and Dunbar were named to the BCPBL’s first all-conference team, while Andreychuk, Alex Rogers and Morgan were chosen second-team all-stars … Clarkson, Andreychuk and Skingle will get to keep playing ball this summer as part of Baseball B.C.’s provincial team. sports@nanaimobulletin.com
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