The Vernon Canadians swept the Kelowna Sun Devils 2-0 to take the Interior Zone Mosquito 11U A baseball title last weekend at Lakeview Park.
Vernon, who open the provincials Friday in Richmond, won the best-of-three opener 14-12 with a 17-hit attack. Head coach is Michael Sanfilippo, while assistants are Matthew Brown and Matthew Davyduke.
The C’s took a early lead after a Carter Davidson single and a Vincent Sanfilippo triple to deep center. Micah Davyduke added a double to put Vernon up 2-0 after one inning. Drew Christensen pitched a solid three innings striking out seven.
Devin Sorensen added a 2-run double in the third while Jordan Herrington did likewise in the fourth. Christensen, Sanfilippo, Davyduke, Davidson, Herrington, Jordie Brown and Tyson Wicklund all had multiple-hit games. Davyduke finished the day going 3-for-3 with four RBI and Sanfilippo went 3-for-3 with three RBI. Everett Brown struck out the side for the save.
Vernon dusted off the Devils 10-8 in the second game, grabbing a 5-1 lead after two innings.
With Vernon up 6-4 in the top of the fourth, Sorensen rapped a two-run double to extend the lead. Kelowna answered with three runs before Christensen and Wicklund started the sixth inning with back-to-back triples. Wicklund was driven in by Turner Hayward
Herrington pitched three solid innings, fanning four. Everett Brown came on in relief to strike out a pair in two innings.
The 11U Vernon Canadians are off to Campbell River for the AAA Tier II provincials after placing second in the Interior Zones in Vernon.
The C’s grounded the West Kelowna Diamondbacks 10-6, upended the Kelowna Sun Devils 14-3 and lost 9-2 to the Penticton Thunder.
Leadoff man Jonah Lee ripped a double off of the left field fence on the first pitch to jumpstart the C’s in the bottom of the first, down 4-0. Mark Johnson followed with a drive to the fence in right centre to score Lee. Charlie Swartz scored Johnson with a single up the middle, and after Reid Williamson hit an infield single, Kaleb Murray drove in both with a deep single to right centre.
Murray pitched very well for the Cs, going 3 1/3 innings (striking out six) and handing the ball to Player of the Game Charlie Swartz, who pitched admirably (6 Ks).
After going down 6-4 in the top of the third, the Canadians scored six unanswered runs in the final two frames to pull ahead for good.
The C’s rode Kacey Miller past the Sun Devils with Miller pitching a masterful 4 1/3 innings, striking out seven and allowing three earned runs. The Canadians jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after one inning. Johnson singled and was out at second on a fielder’s choice (Miller). After a Swartz walk, Williamson rapped in both with a double down the left field line. Williamson then scored on a line-drive single from Murray.
In the second, after Kelowna scored two runs on a double by Michael Fuchs, Butler reached after being hit in the foot and was driven to third on a single up the middle by Morgan Hackman. Back-to-back walks to Ryan Cox and Lee scored Butler and left the bases loaded for Johnson, who knocked in two runs with a hard single to right field. Swartz then drove in Johnson to make it 7-2 after two complete.
Chayse Brumpton later singled to centre to score Swartz and Williamson to make it 14-3.
Player of the Game Johnson pitched very well for the Canadians against Penticton, holding the Thunder to four runs through four innings.
Vernon is coached by Nathan Lee, Lance Johnson, and Derek Murray. The Cs will play tourney host Campbell River, Abbotsford, Aldergrove and Cloverdale in pool play on Friday and Saturday.