Two teams went, and both finished in the medals.

 

Prince George had two peewee teams at a tournament in West Kelowna (Westbank) this past weekend, the second team filling in for a lower mainland team that dropped out of the eight-team affair. The two Prince George teams were set up to be as even as possible, and that turned out to be the case.

 

Team Blue started off with a tough 9-0 loss to Vernon on Friday, with an error-filled five-run first inning making Ryan Hampe the losing pitcher. But outstanding pitching performances on Saturday by Quinten Astorino and Ajay Nickolet, and tightened defence, helped Prince George knock off Rutland 5-2 and Kelowna 5-3 to finish 2-1 and advance to the playoff round on Sunday. Nickolet threw 74 pitches in his outing, fanning 11, surrendering four hits, walking none, while throwing 61 of those pitches for strikes. Astorino struck out nine in his start. Kelowna and Rutland were left to play consolation games on Sunday.

 

In the other pool, Team Red opened by run-ruling Nelson 15-5 behind the pitching of Richard French and the breakout hitting of catcher Seth Lapre, who would have four triples, two doubles and a home run by the time the weekend was over. On Saturday, Team Red handled the hosts from West Kelowna 9-5, with Joseph JenVenne as the winning pitcher, then completed a perfect pool-play effort with an 11-7 win over Penticton. Pitcher Tommy Kreitz had a three-pitch inning in that game.

 

That meant the two Prince George teams met in the first playoff game -- an awful long way to go for an intrasquad game! In that game, Zach Swanson was the winning pitcher in a 9-5 win for Team Red, with both teams battling hard to beat their friends in an intense game.

 

Team Red, coached by Russ Pratt, Brad Kreitz and Frank Werbecky, then lost 2-1 to Vernon in the final. Richard French was the losing pitcher after Liam Campbell had a strong start. The Prince George team had ample chances to put up a lot of runs, but couldn't get the key hit with runners on base. Neither team mustered a hit in the final until the fifth inning, as pitching and defence ruled the diamond.

 

Members of Team Blue were Matt Siemens, Soren Erricson, Quinten Astorino, Ryan Hampe, Ajay Nickolet, Jayan Nickolet, Ryan Bachand, Brevin Gervais, Kolby Lukinchuk, Raymond Prive, Mitchell Lukoni and Christopher Magrath.

 

Players on PG Red were Brady Pratt, Tommy Kreitz, Zach Swanson, Mikey Schwab, Braeden Wheeler, Seth Lapre, Josh Fielding, Liam Campbell, Dallas Werbecky, Colin Desrocher, Richard French and Joseph JenVenne.

 

A very successful weekend for the kids. The final AAA Knights team roster will be named around May 15, with that team serving as host squad for the AAA peewee provincial tournament, August 8-11 at Spruce City Stadium.

 

The AAA Knights are in Vernon for games May 18-19, then play in the prestigious John Main Classic tournament in Burnaby on May 23-26 weekend, in a pool with powerhouses White Rock, Vancouver Community and Newton.

 

Members of the Knights are going to Kamloops on Sunday for the CABA World Series/Team BC tryouts, a process that started last weekend with tryout camps in Victoria, Nanaimo, Richmond and Aldergrove. Jim Swanson of Prince George is the head coach for Team BC.

 

 

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Two teams from the Prince George Youth Baseball Association's peewee division will be in West Kelowna (Westbank, Darroch and Upper Field) for a tournament this weekend -- and they are doing well!!! Both have reached the playoffs, and will face each other!

Team1 (Blue) is 2-1 -- started with a 9-0 loss to Vernon, then played two very strong games, 5-0 win over Rutland, and 5-3 over Kelowna, with Quinten Astorino, Ajay Nickolet and Kolby Lukinchuk throwing very, very well. Vernon won the pool, Kelowna and Rutland were eliminated. How about the performance of Nickolet, 61 strikes in 74 pitches in the win over Kelowna? Wow.

Team 2 (Red) is 3-0, the product of drubbing Nelson, handling the host West Kelowna Diamondbacks, and defeating Penticton. That puts them first in their division. Seth Lapre is crushing the ball, with four triples and two doubles.

 

PG Blue will be coached by Denny Astorino, Keith Hampe, Al Bachand and Ray Siemens, opening the tournament on Friday evening with a game against Vernon at 5:30 pm. Members of that team are Matt Siemens, Soren Erricson, Quinten Astorino, Ryan Hampe, Ajay Nickolet, Jayan Nickolet, Ryan Bachand, Brevin Gervais, Kolby Lukinchuk, Raymond Prive, Mitchell Lukoni and Christopher Magrath.

 

PG Blue will then play Rutland at 11 am on Saturday, followed by a 2 pm game against Kelowna.

 

PG Red is being coached by Russ Pratt, Brad Kreitz and Frank Werbecky, facing Nelson on Friday night at 5:30 pm and scheduled to play West Kelowna (8:30 am) and Penticton (5:30 pm) on Saturday.

 

Players on PG Red are Brady Pratt, Tommy Kreitz, Zach Swanson, Mikey Schwab, Braeden Wheeler, Seth Lapre, Josh Fielding, Liam Campbell, Dallas Werbecky, Colin Desrocher, Richard French and Joseph JenVenne.

 

The playoff round goes Sunday.

 

This is all part of the tryout process to determine the 12-player Knights team that will be host for the AAA peewee provincials in August at Spruce City Stadium.

 

 

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We now have two peewee teams going, 23 kids, May 3-5 in West Kelowna (Westbank, fields at Mount Boucherie, near the secondary school and Westside Arena)...

And this is the initial plan for the teams...

TM1 -- Coaches – Keith, Denny, Murray, Al, Ray

(12) Matt Siemens, Soren Erricson, Quinten Astorino, Ryan Hampe, Ajay Nickolet, Jayan Nickolet, Ryan Bachand, Brevin Gervais, Kolby Lukinchuk, Raymond Prive, Mitchell Lukoni, Christopher Magrath

 

TM2 (PG2) – Coaches – Russ, Brad, Frank

(12) Brady Pratt, Tommy Kreitz, Zach Swanson, Mikey Schwab, Braeden Wheeler, Seth Lapre, Josh Fielding, Liam Campbell, Dallas Werbecky, Richard French, Joseph JenVenne, Colin Desrocher

West Kelowna - Tournament Schedule
Pool A		Pool B
A1	Kelowna	B1	West Kelowna D'Backs
A2	Rutland	B2	Penticton
A3	PG	B3	Nelson
A4	Vernon	B4	PG2
Team	Field	Time
	Thursday, May 2nd
West Kelowna vs. Penticton	Darroch (grass infield)	6:00 PM
Kelowna vs. Rutland	Upper (all-dirt infield)	6:00 PM
	Friday, May 3rd
PG vs. Vernon	Upper Field - West Kelowna	5:30 PM
Nelson vs. PG2	Darroch	5:30 PM
	Saturday, May 4th
Kelowna vs. Vernon	Upper	8:00 AM
Rutland vs. PG	Upper	11:00 AM
Kelowna vs. PG	Upper	2:00 PM
Rutland vs. Vernon	Upper	5:00 PM
Wkel vs. PG2	Darroch	8:30 AM
Penticton vs. Nelson	Darroch	11:30 AM
Wkel vs. Nelson	Darroch	2:30 PM
Penticton vs. PG2	Darroch	5:30 PM
	Sunday, May 5th
1st A vs. 2nd B	Darroch	8:30 AM
1st B vs. 2nd A	Upper	9:00 AM
3rd A vs. 3rd B	Darroch	11:30 AM
4th A bs. 4th B	Upper	12:00 PM
Final of 8:30 & 9:00	Darroch	2:30 PM