By Dave Stephen
The bats came out early in the opening game of boy’s baseball action at the BC Summer Games, but then the defense took hold, with Fraser Valley taking a narrow 4-3 extra innings victory over Vancouver Island-Central Coast A.
Fraser Valley had taken a 3-0 lead by the bottom of the second, but Van Isle-Central Coast chipped away with two runs in the 3rd and a tying run in the 4th. The game then remained scoreless as both teams’ defense tightened up, until Fraser Valley got the winning run in the 2nd extra inning on a somewhat controversial call. After a hit, the ball ended up in between some fencing and the runner from 3rd was able to score.
“I wish it would have happened a little differently, but we’ll take the win,” said Fraser Valley Coach Tim Blake. “The pitching and defense was great on both sides”
Fraser Valley used three pitchers, with Connall Sexton getting the win in relief through almost 4 innings. “Connall was on a roll and we needed the win so we let him run with pitching a little bit”.
As instructions to the players, Coach Blake noted “We told them to have fun, enjoy the moment, play hard, and see what happens on the field.”
In the other morning game, Fraser River scored a decisive 6-1 victory over Thompson-Okanagan. Eight teams are divided into two groups, with each team playing the other once. The top two teams in each pool advance to the next round Saturday afternoon, with medal games Sunday morning.