The Vernon Canadians are off to the B.C. Bantam A Baseball Championships, Aug. 4-8, in Pitt Meadows.
The Canadians smothered the Summerland Thunder 13-3 and 13-2 in a best-of-three Okanagan zone series.
Tyler Lactin-Doyle and Clayton Bateman both batted a thousand and Mitchell Lukacs went 2-for-3 as the C’s took the Monday night opener at Marshall Field.
Stellar pitching by Lucas Colgan, Clayton Bateman and Tyler Lactin-Doyle held the Thunder to only three runs. Great defence was turned in by Franky Getttis, and catcher Brayden Damini.
In Game 2 Tuesday night, Vernon kept flexing their muscle on the mound with Shelby Hartwig, Dylon Emmons and Brenden Zupp combining for 10 strikeouts while facing only 18 batters.
Superb offence came from Lactin-Doyle and Garner Chudyk who both went 2 for 2. Mark Trznadel hit a monster three-run double in a rally started by Chudyk.
Smart base running was displayed by Zupp, Hartwig, Lactin-Doyle and Lukacs. Great patience at the plate was shown by Gettis, Damini and Bateman.
Jacob O’Quinn, who was absent for the zone series, will join the Canadians at the provincials. Coaches Don Emmons, Drew Doyle and Terry Chudyk have worked very hard with the boys, with help from Kyle Anderson of the OMBL Vernon Diamondbacks.
“The Coaches are very excited and proud to take this talented group of boys down to provincials and represent Vernon,” said Emmons.
The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, lost 12-2 to the Kelowna Jays and 8-3 to the Kamloops Sun Devils in OMBL playoff action Saturday at Marhsall Field.
Kelowna used a seven-run first inning to stop the D-Backs. CJ Galozo scored both Vernon runs with Josh Wade smacking a double.
Errors cost the D-Backs versus the Sun Devils with Pete Ortman pitching well and allowing just two earned runs in five-plus innings. Galozo had two hits and scored twice again.
Kamloops beat Kelowna 3-2 in the final, in extra innings, on a bases-loaded walk. Provincials are this weekend in Kelowna.