The future of baseball in Abbotsford is bright.
That much was abundantly clear at the mosquito (age 10-11) boys provincial championships in Cloverdale last weekend.
The Abbotsford Angels mosquito A squad, comprised of boys age 10 and under, won the B.C. crown, rolling through the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record, capped by a thrilling 18-14 win over Ladner in the title game.
The Angels mosquito AAA team, featuring players age 11 and under, also made it to the provincial final, where they settled for silver after dropping a 14-7 decision to Victoria.
"The boys were absolutely outstanding," said Richard Rabinovitch, coach of the mosquito A team. "Our bats were amazing, our pitching was amazing, and our fielding was amazing. Everybody did what they had to."
The A team cruised through the round robin, winning their four games by an average of 7.5 runs per game.
After beating Victoria 10-3 in the semifinals, they met their archrival Ladner in the final – a team which had beaten them by one run in two prior meetings this season.
The game stretched to extra innings, but Abby prevailed after out-scoring Ladner 7-3 in the eighth inning.
"I couldn't pick an MVP, because all the kids were heroes," Rabinovitch enthused.
The current AAA group won provincial silver last year in A ball, and they were aiming for one spot better this season.
They opened their run at the B.C.'s by winning the "around the horn" skills contest, then won all four of their round-robin games to finish first in their pool.
The AAA Angels beat Coquitlam in a semifinal thriller that saw Chris Pidlisecky drive in Treyson Smith for the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth, but they fell to a tough Victoria team in the final.
"They may have put a little bit too much pressure on themselves towards the end – things got a little tight there," coach Tim Smith said.
"But the kids were great. They were a really good group of guys as far as being a team, and they improved a ton from the beginning of the year. All around, it was a good show, for sure."
Abbotsford's mosquito AAA boys baseball team finished second at provincials. (submitted photo)