Team BC Recognized by the Pros Team BC has been rewarded for their effortrs by being offered 30 free tickets to see the Vancouver Canadians host the Tri City Dust Devils. This will take place on Friday August 14th at Nat Bailey Stadium. Gates open at 6:00 pm and first pitch is at 7:05 pm. Players are reminded to wear their Provincial Championship t-shirts from Rutland, a ball cap of their choice and whatever pants/shorts they wish. What better way to prepare for Nationals than to see young professional baseball players go to work on a gorgeous field.    The Burnaby Braves are off to the Big Dance   The Burnaby Braves travel to Rutland this weekend for the 2009 Bantam AAA Provincial Championships. They will take the field against the best teams in BC including the Abbotsford Angels, Vancouver Mounties, Richmond City Chuckers and Tri City Indians during pool play. This is the first year that the Burnaby Minor Baseball Association (BMBA) has been represented in the Bantam AAA Provincial Championship Tournament. The Braves are excited to represent their organization with class and respect for the game of baseball as they wish their competition good luck and a hard fought weekend of the best game on Earth. Thanks to Kyle Williams for all the hard work he has put in this year organizing an amazing year of highly competitive baseball in BC.  See you on the field.   Character Defining Stretch Drive Kicks off on High Note   The Burnaby Braves returned from Spooner Creek determined and focused on the task at hand. That task is 7 regular season games to play down the stretch featuring 5 against the top 3 teams in the league.  The Braves opened this 7 game stretch drive with a 5-4 come from behind victory vs the North Delta Astros last night at Kensington. The Braves started Brendon Diu on the tit and the Astros countered with Chris Nelson who has owned the Braves so far this year. The game moved fast and crisp as both teams played tight defence all night long. Delta scored the game’s first run with a double by Ashton Mantle followed immediately by a Lucas Kops base rap. Taran Kingsbury responded for the Braves banging a Nelson hanger over the blue steel in center with one on. Delta kept chipping away and added 3 more runs with clutch hits including a Mantle homer. Then in the bottom of the sixth down 4-2 with 2 out and runners on first and second Josh Wray went yard to the left center power alley to give the Braves a late 1 run lead.  Justin Gadey closed the door on the Astros getting two high pressure ground ball outs fielded routinely by Alex Bott and Byron Prasad with a runner in scoring position to end the game.   Burnaby will practice tonight before hosting the 2nd place Victoria Vipers at Kensington in their first meeting of the year.       Anticipated Hits Get Wasted   It couldn’t have been a better night for baseball on Thursday for the highly anticipated tilt between the Burnaby Braves and Vancouver Mounties. The Braves came out loud and aggressive at the plate ripping Mountie starter Orson Halls-Springbob for 4 hits, 3 runs and 4 stolen bases in the top of 1, highlighted by a Josh Wray bomb to the left center power alley at Hillcrest. With momentum on their side the Braves looked to Brendon Diu to do a job on the mound given it was his turn in the rotation. Diu gave the Braves 3 1/3 innings of solid work while the Braves defence, as a whole, struggled behind him.  After jumping out to the early lead on offence Burnaby’s nerves seemed to get the best of them as they lost base runners in key situations in the 3rd and 4th innings due to mental mistakes which turned out to be the turning point in the game. The Mounties responded by taking control of the momentum and in doing so took control of the game from that point on eventually winning 8-3. DJ Hunt threw in relief for the Braves and managed to hold the Mountie bats in check, however the Braves D got taught a lesson that 7 errors will not give you a chance to win against anybody, especially the first seeded team in the league. Halls-Springbob cruised through the Braves batting order retiring the last 11 batters he faced in a row to end the game thanks largely in part to his deuce. Kada-Wong continues to scorch the Braves organization as he registered a hit with each plate appearance and proceeded to score every time. Byron Prasad and Sean Coulson each collected 2 hits for the Braves but other than that there was not much to talk about. The Braves will move on from this experience knowing that they can produce a better game on the field and will do battle with the Richmond Chuckers this weekend at Kensington.             Braves Go 2 For 2 So Far In Tournament Play     The Burnaby Braves travelled separately by land and air before meeting up in Sherwood Park Friday afternoon for one of Western Canada’s Premier Minor Baseball Tournaments. The Dave “Doc” Plotsky Memorial Tournament featured over 48 teams from Western Canada and 8 Bantam AAA teams including the defending Provincial Champions from Alberta, the Edmonton Cardinals.   The Braves opened the tournament against the 1st place team from Saskatoon Minor Baseball’s Bantam AAA Wood Bat League, the Saskatoon Blue Jays. Both teams swung mean aluminum bats versus each other and 13 combined runs were put up in the first 3 innings. Heading into the top of the fourth with an 8-5 lead the Braves broke things open adding 4 runs, scored by Byron Prasad, Sean Coulson, Keno Magano and Brendon Diu. Taran Kingsbury registered his 9th win for the Braves as they began a 3 game Saturday on the right note.   Immediately following their 12-6 victory the Braves went up against the hosting Athletics Baseball Club. DJ Hunt gave the Braves another quality start and Michael Spencer, Justin Gadey and Byron Prasad all chipped in on the mound while the Braves managed their pitch counts with close attention due to the strict Baseball Alberta rules. Keno Magano lead the charge offensively for Burnaby going 2-4 with 2 runs scored and 3 stolen bases. After all was said and done the Braves walked away with a 6-4 win in a game that was an excellent display of baseball in its purest form. Playing in their 3rd game of the day and facing one of the top pitchers in the province of Alberta, and quite possibly Canada, the Braves knew they would have their work cut out for them against the Spruce Grove White Sox.  Taylor Ginnetti battled his way on base beating out a hard hit infield grounder to start the game and after he stole 2nd base, Josh Wray came up big with a 2 out triple to score the first Braves run in the top of the 1st. The Braves would strike again in the 3rd when Ryan Mew and Byron Prasad laid down back to back bunt for base hits to manufacture a run. And after Brendon Diu’s leadoff triple in the 4th, DJ Hunt scored him on a 2 strike hard ground ball to 2nd base. The White Sox threatened in the 5th scoring 2 runs and with their tying run on 3rd base and only 1 out Michael VanHombeeck picked off an overaggressive base runner and got a popup to short to end the threat. Ryan Mew got the win with 3 rock solid innings of relief work and Taylor Ginnetti came in for the save as the Braves pulled off what the tournament believed to be an upset win, 3-2 over Logan Seifrit and the Sox.   Saturday’s 3-0 effort earned the Braves 1st place in their pool and a date with the Edmonton Cardinals in the semi-final. Taran Kingsbury got the nod for Burnaby and he threw a gem as the Brave bats gave him way more than he needed putting up 12 runs in 5 innings on 13 hits. Michael Spencer, Ryan Mew and Byron Prasad all had multi hit games and Kingsbury, Wray and Hunt contributed with triples to the deep alleys of Sherwood Heights Park. When the dust settled on a 12-2 victory the Braves found themselves moving on to a rematch with the Saskatoon Blue Jays in the Doc Plotsky Memorial Championship. Justin Gadey was given the ball for the final to go head to head with Kohl Bauml and the stage was set for two hardnosed teams to do battle. Behind Bauml’s pounding of the strike zone and consistent movement on all his pitches the Blue Jays defense held the Braves scoreless through 4 and lead 3-0 going into the bottom of the 5th. Josh Wray and DJ Hunt broke the goose egg with back to back hits to give the Braves their first run of the game in the bottom of 5. Then after holding the Jays scoreless the Braves came back again with a 2 run triple by Taran Kingsbury which chased Bauml from the game. Shortly after that with the game now tied 3-3 and 2 runners in scoring position DJ Hunt lined a base hit into center field to score the go ahead run and looking for more the Braves sent another runner to score from 2nd but he was thrown out at the plate by a fantastic throw from center fielder Kohl Bauml fresh off of a studly pitching performance. Leading 4-3 going into the 7th Justin Gadey was replaced by Josh Wray who came in for the save. After 2 strike outs to begin the inning Wray got into trouble walking the next hitter and then giving up a base hit. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 out an almost identical play took place when Bauml singled to left and Justin Gadey, fresh off his own studly pitching performance threw out the winning run at home plate. The score was now tied at 4 apiece going into the bottom of the 7th inning. Justin Gadey continued to dominate the day by hitting a 1 out triple to the right center gap. After a clutch strike out by the Jays pitcher, Michael Spencer stepped to the plate and battled with a 1-2 count until he fought off an inside fastball to right field which gave the Braves the tournament championship in the utmost dramatic fashion. Hats off to an extremely tough Saskatoon team who have some top notch athletes mixed in their lineup of rock solid baseball players. Burnaby returned home safely with gold medals around their neck and get back to BC Business tonight with a matchup which is sure to entertain against the Vancouver Mounties. Braves and Twins Duel Out a Tie   Wednesday night Byron Prasad got the nod for the time this year and pitched 2 shutout innings against a scrappy North Shore lineup. Josh Wray and Michael Spencer drove in a run each offensively for the Braves and Taran Kingsbury, Sean Coulson, Ryan Mew and Brendon Diu also saw time on the mound. On an overcast rainy evening at Kensington the Braves and Twins managed to get in 6 innings of quality baseball before finishing tied 2-2.         Burnaby Braves Bantam AAA Baseball Club Fundraiser     The Burnaby Braves would like to extend a high five and a thank-you to everyone who came out to their first fundraiser. Despite the Canucks loss it was a fun night and the Braves managed to raise a solid amount of money with everyones generosity and sincere help.       Braves Management                                          Braves Come Out On Top After War In Rutland game 1  It was a war of a weekend viewed by the pickup truck bleachers in Rutland. Game one was a chip away game for the Braves to keep up with the high powered Rockie offence. With Braves baserunners aggressively jacking base after base they managed to put up a consistent stream of runs. Burnaby lead 6-2 going into the bottom of the fifth backed up by 3 runs scored by Sean Coulson and Taylor Ginnetti who used their skills to "rip it up the Dirtroad" in Rutland all weekend. But the Rockie hitters responded true to their reputation and blew up a 6 spot in their half of the 5th which included a 3 run bomb to the truckyard by Brandon Johnson. Not to be outdone, Coulson responded with a bomb of his own to almost the exact same spot and in the top of the 7th DJ Hunt singled home Mike VanHombeeck after his leadoff double to tie the game and force extra innings. The stage was set for someone to play hero. That hero would be G; he ripped a hard ground ball back up the D to score Josh Wray. Taran Kingsbury shut the door in the bottom half to secure the come from behind victory 9-8. game2 After a lengthy debate of whether the new pitch count rule is a daily limit or not, the Braves were forced to concede and Taran Kingsbury was done for the day after throwing 46 pitches to close out the first game. This meant Alex Bott got the nod for game 2 and the Braves would pitch by committee sending 4 different pitchers to the tit over 6 innings. With the sun setting and the second game in jeopardy of being called to darkness thanks to many delays including 20 second pep talks between each pitch by the Rockies third base coach; Rutland lead 8-6 going into the 6th. This was deemed the last inning by the homeplate umpire. Mike VanHombeeck went oppo yard on the first pitch of the inning to pull the Braves to within one. Keno Magano later singled and with the tying run in scoring position the Braves fell just short, losing by a final of 8-7 and also missed the Canucks game. game 3   The 3rd and deciding game in Rutland moved a lot faster and Josh Wray outdueled the combination of Ballingall and Johnson striking out 8 over 6 innings and scattering 5 hits and 3 runs. The Braves continued to do what they do best; consistently manufacture runs; and managed to score in 4 out of 6 offensive innings on route to a 6-3 win and left Rutland taking the season series 2 games to 1 and by a combined score of 22-19. It was an intense battle from the first pitch to the last pitch and both teams will be way better in the future because of it.       Keepin’ It Real (yo) The Braves hosted the North Shore Twins Premier League Developmental team in last night’s action at Kensington. Both teams agreed to keep it real and swung wood bats on a gorgeous evening so that “CRACK” could be heard throughout the park as opposed to “TING”. The young and talented Twins got off to a solid start scoring 2 runs right off the bat. But the Braves, not to be outdone, scored 2 of their own in their half of the opening inning thanks to a kangaroo single and a Ro sacrifice. Again the Twins came hard at the Braves and put up 3 in the 2nd only to be followed up by a 7 run outburst by the Braves. The big inning was directly attributed to a consistent team approach at the dish which led to 7 hits highlighted by a dime laid down the 3rd base line by all name team standout Keno Magano. Burnaby played stellar D for the rest of the game behind consistent strikes thrown by Ryan Mew, Michael Spencer, Josh Wray, Alex Bott and DJ Hunt. The combination of K Mag and Spaceman in the batting order contributed in a big way going a combined 5 for 5 with 4 runs scored and 2 RBI’s.  Mew registered the win and the D was burried to mark Kensington as a place to fear for all opposing teams. Burnaby will hit the road this weekend and match up against a tough team from Rutland who they are very familiar with. If you haven’t purchased your ticket yet for the “funnest” night on the planet scheduled for May 9th, you had better get on it! !!   Braves Sweep Island Adventure on Recent Roadshow The Braves spent the weekend travelling to opposite ends of the lower mainland to take on opposition from Vancouver Island. In Richmond on Saturday vs the Nanaimo Pirates, Burnaby did what they do best and got off to a hot start. A six pitch, three up three down top of the first was turned in by Justin Gadey on the hill with the help of Brendon Diu’s beastarm behind the dish, which threw out a would be base stealer for the second out. Shortly after that the Braves top of the order got things off to a good roll putting up 3 runs. The Braves struck again with 5 more runs in their half of the 4th and cruised to an 11-1 victory that featured 2 coach ejections along the way. Nanaimo’s pitching coach was ejected for arguing a judgment call in the bottom of the 4th and Richard “Loose Cannon” Forbes of the Braves was ejected shortly after in the lower half of the 5th. Josh Wray, Mike VanHombeeck, Keno Magano and Diu collected 2 hits apiece and Justin Gadey added a win to his stats on his first game start of the year. Sunday afternoon proved to be a gorgeous day at Pitt Athletic in Ridge and the Braves once again came out shredding. Byron Prasad’s single in the bottom of 1 sparked a 5 run inning featuring 8 stolen bases and a Sean Coulson double laced tight along the left field foul line. Taran Kingsbury picked up his third win of the year for Burnaby and Mitch Hawkins took the loss for the Victoria Bears.  Taylor Ginnetti, DJ Hunt and Ryan Mew put up multi hit games.  Mike VanHombeeck had a fine day at the park as well going 2 for 2 with a double and a base rap, stole a base, scored a run and made a highlight real play from 3 bag to help keep the Bears to just 2 runs. Burnaby looks forward to taking on the North Shore Twins prep team on Wednesday at Kensington.   Braves Defend Home Field The Burnaby Braves lost their home opener but have responded with back to back wins at Kensington. Wednesday night Mike Bird and his Indians squad made a visit to the beat up turf at Kensington. Brendon Diu started for the Braves and Max Hollingworth countered for the Indians. The Indians struck first against their Brave brothers scoring 2 in the top of the 1st sparked by a double by defected Brave Willie Davis. It took only until the bottom of the 2nd for the Braves to get even when Taylor Ginnetti ripped a clutch single through the left side with 2 out to tie the game. The Braves took over the momentum after that and led by Sean Coulson’s double double and DJ Hunt’s bases loaded 2-out drive to the left center gap, the Braves found themselves in a comfortable position heading into the final 2 innings. But like all Bird trained Indians do, they refused to die and fought back hard with 4 more runs before eventually falling short by a final score of 11-6. Byron Prasad had a big day for the Braves going 2 for 3, driving in 2 runs, scoring twice, turning a double play, and kangarooing 3 bases in the process. All in all it was a solid war that left Kensington littered with tomahawks and broken arrows. The Braves now take their show on the road to Richmond on Saturday and Maple Ridge on Sunday to face Nanaimo and the Victoria Bears respectfully.   Home Opener Spoiled by Perfect Royal D The Burnaby Braves played their first 2 games at Kensington this past weekend and ran into a Royals team that made every single play. With bad hops threatening on every ground ball hit, the Royals infielders managed to uphold a perfect fielding percentage which proved to be the determining factor in a 5-3 dump of the Braves. Johnny Bauer had Braves hitters on their heels all afternoon throwing 5 innings of shutout ball only surrendering 2 hits and struck out 7 for the win. Despite the Braves valiant effort to spark a comeback late in the game thanks to 3 innings of gutsy relief work by Justin Gadey to keep them in it; they eventually lost 5-3. DJ Hunt took the loss for the Braves and Bauer registered the W for the Royals.   Game 2 The second game of a double dip on a windy afternoon proved to be more rewarding for the Braves crew as they managed to chip away at the scrappy Royals pitching and defense. Mew, Prasad, Spencer and Diu combined for 5 runs scored, 6 hits and 6 stolen bases holding down the top half of the Braves order. Taran Kingsbury picked up his 2nd win of the season throwing 4 strong innings and Brendon Diu booked the save in relief as the Braves came out on top 6-3 to salvage a split on their home turf. This concludes the season series between Burnaby and Ridge Meadows with the Braves taking it 2 games to 1.       MAKE IT BACK TO BACK  A tough road schedule to open the season had no impact on the Braves as they came out of the gates once again firing on all offensive cylinders. Ryan Mew led the game off with a 2 ball 0 strike double to left center only to be followed by Brendon Diu going yard for the first Braves home run of the year. Shortly after, Prasad singled and then kangaroo'd 3rd base, which seemed to spark back-to-back doubles by Kingsbury and The Antelope. After the 5 run explosion in the 1st had settled VanHombeeck was heard amongst Braves chatter quoting the early success to the ... "jeans" ...  ? After the Braves manufactured a run in the top of the second, Ridge bounced back with 2 of their own in the bottom half. Burnaby kept putting on the pressure though and added two more in the 3rd on a clutch 2-out, 2 RBI single Up the D by short stop Alex Bott, fresh off the DL. The two teams traded runs and multiple strike outs after that and shook hands at dusk with the Braves coming out on top 11 - 3. Brendon Diu registered the win on Burnaby's side and Matt Strother took the L for the Royals. The Braves will take a well deserved day off to watch the Canucks on Friday and get back at the grind on Saturday. The day after that the Ridge Meadows Royals will visit Burnaby for the Braves home opener at Kensington which should prove to be an eventful afternoon with more good baseball.   Braves Taste Sweet Revenge The Burnaby Braves showed up right on time with their game faces on Wednesday night in Cloverdale. With the Canucks kicking off their 2009 playoff run and the Braves seeking their 3rd win in a row and 2nd win in as many games of league play, a healthy competitiveness was in the air. Ryan Mew lead the game off ripping the first pitch of the game back up the D to get his team fired up. Mew then stole 2 bases and after Cloverdale's starter walked the bases loaded Byron Prasad refused to move out of the way of an inside fastball and wore one on the elbow. Prasad's determination to "own the box" picked him up an RBI and gave the Braves a lead that they would maintain for the rest of the game. A good ol fashioned pitchers duel ensued as both teams pitching staffs combined for an impressive 26 strike outs all together. The Braves stranded 8 base runners thanks to some solid defensive play by the Spurs including their 2nd baseman taking away a guaranteed RBI base hit from Justin Gadey and then proceeding to double up DJ Hunt at 2nd base. The Braves played some pretty oustanding defence themselves lead by Michael Spencer throwing out a stealing attempt at 2nd and blocking several balls in the dirt to keep Spurs baserunners in check. Taran Kingsbury made a terrific over the shoulder catch in right field to rob an extra base hit and the Braves finished up the game on a double play when DJ Hunt caught a foul popup on the first base side and then fired home to double up Nathan Goodwin attempting to tag and score on the play. DJ Hunt was the winning pitcher in the contest while Justin Geerts recorded the loss for Cloverdale. The Braves now look forward to a game tomorrow night in which they travel out to Ridge Meadows to battle the Royals.   Monday » April 13 » 2009   A Braves new world of baseball   Tom Berridge Burnaby Now Saturday, April 11, 2009 CREDIT: Larry Wright/BURNABY NOW Play ball: Burnaby Braves shortstop Alex Bott, centre, makes a play while teammate Mike Van Hombeeck backs up the play in a recent bantam exhibition game against North Delta at Ron McLean Park.   Burnaby is no longer the Lower Mainland baseball's version of Fantasyland. Although still delayed by one of the lower enrolments in the Greater Vancouver area, Burnaby Minor continues to take steps forward to improving its game. Last year, Burnaby Minor won the provincial banner at the mosquito AA level. They also earned a berth into the B.C. peewee tournament at the AAA level for the first time. South Burnaby Metro Club also sent a team to the provincial final four at the single A peewee level. In order to improve the calibre of its players, Burnaby Minor has taken the high road in recent years, stressing skill development and bringing in knowledgeable baseball minds like Dave Empey to consult with the association on how it and its players can improve. Empey has since taken on the head coaching of the new Vancouver Cannons franchise in the B.C. Premier Baseball League this season. But he made it clear to the Burnaby NOW in a Feb. 7 story that he expects Burnaby Minor to be a future feeder program for the midget ballclub. That eventuality is not that far off. Burnaby Minor grad Andrew Macdonald will be making his premier debut with the Vancouver club this weekend. Elsewhere, infielder South Burnaby's Alex Calbick is expected to be the primary bat for the Coquitlam Reds this season, while North Burnaby's Daniel Altoe, a another Burnaby Minor product, helped the North Shore Twins to a second provincial title last year. Burnaby Minor's bantam AAA team has rising expectations for 2009 as well after attracting more than 20 ballplayers to its fall ball program, with half the numbers coming from neighbouring Vancouver. This year's AAA Braves team will be made up of seven players from Burnaby, including one from the South Burnaby organization. The remaining six bats are coming from across Boundary Road. The AA bantam team has also managed to attract some out-of-district appeal, including players from neighbouring Hastings Little League and from the North Shore. Braves co-coach Parker Kynoch believes a lot of the hard work in the batting and pitching cage is beginning to pay off. "We finally have a team that will be able to compete with the top five teams. Last year, we were second last and only managed to beat one team in the top seven," Kynoch said. "This year, our goal will be to battle for a spot in the provincials and be one of the final four teams in the province." Those expectations are realistic, said Burnaby Minor treasurer Tony Wray. "I think so. It's always difficult to maintain a big picture concept. But I think, generally speaking, it's something we, as an association, need so our program keeps developing our players. "It's something we want to stay with. It has to be about the kids. We want to stay on the right track. But we still need more volunteers." Low registration can create more than the obvious problems of numbers alone. It makes short-term decisions to hold back local players in favour of better, out-of-district ones on elite teams a potentially contentious issue among some parents. Kynoch and co-coach Richard Forbes are trying to mitigate those problems by working on skill development at an early age at the Bullpen Baseball School in New Westminster. They are part of Burnaby Minor's current skill-building program that is targeting mosquito-age kids, nine and 10 year old and upwards. "You can notice the difference in the younger kids, they improve so quickly if they get the training," said the 26-year-old Kynoch. Kynoch played provincial ball in his home province of Saskatchewan while growing up. Later, he played college ball at the University College of the Cariboo, now Thompson Rivers University, and Douglas College before taking up duties as a hitting instructor at the Bullpen. Forbes, a former all-star at Capilano College, is a pitching instructor at the New West school. "Our goal is to move players out of Burnaby and into premier," Kynoch added. The spinoff, they hope, will be two-fold. By laying a solid groundwork of fundamentals, the young coaches believe more ball players will be attracted to the association, which is already beginning to happen, while midget coaches might also start taking more notice of the product coming out of Burnaby Minor. "Right now, we're just focusing on getting the bantam AAA team as a consistent performer in the league," Kynoch said. The Braves scored a 4-2 exhibition win over the Ridge Meadows Royals. The Braves home opener is against Ridge Meadows at Kensington Park, April 19. © Burnaby Now 2009   Braves Open 2009 in the Win Column The Burnaby Braves held their fingers crossed all day as mother nature threatened with dark clouds only to have the Baseball gods win over with a beautiful full moon evening under the lights at Bird Field in Port Coquitlam. It was the perfect setting for the 2009 Bantam AAA Regular Season to be kicked off. The game started out at a high pace with the Braves and Indians combining for 6 runs in the first inning and the Indians coming out with a 4-2 lead. In the top of the second the Braves capitalized on some sloppy Indians defence and put up a 3 spot to take the lead back. Aggressive base running and some good situational hitting was to be credited to the Burnaby squad as they exploded for 6 runs in the 3rd highlighted by a 2 run double up the D by Michael Spencer. Taran Kingsbury pitched into the bottom of the 3rd inning for Burnaby despite a shaky beginning and finished his day striking out the last 2 batters he faced setting his team up for the win with a gutsy effort on the bump. Ryan Mew took over after that with two strong innings and was followed by solid performances by Spencer (Boo) and Brendon Diu who combined for 14 strike outs and 1 walk on the night. Taylor Ginnetti, Keno Magano, Byron Prasad, Josh Wray and Boo lead the way for the Braves offence each representing with multi hit games. When all was said and done the Braves scored 14 runs on 13 hits, 5 of which were for extra bases and the Indians ripped 11 hits but only managed to cross 5 runners over the dish. Taran Kingsbury was the winning pitcher of record while Cody Didyk took the loss for Tri City. Burnaby's next game is against the Cloverdale Spurs on Wednesday. The Braves are approaching this game with an aim to kill mentality because of the sour taste in their mouth of 24 runs against in 11 innings.
Cannons taking aim at Burnaby ballplayers   Tom Berridge Burnaby Now Saturday, February 07, 2009 Burnaby now has an elite midget baseball team to sort of call its own. The Vancouver Cannons will become the 12th team in the B.C. Premier Baseball League this season, and Burnaby is within the club's catchment area. The Cannons will draw players mainly from Vancouver and Burnaby, as well as some from the open Richmond area. This season, the team will divide its home games between Hillcrest Park in Vancouver and Queen's Park Arena in New Westminster. Dave Empey, who has been a consultant to the Burnaby Minor Baseball Association for the past three seasons, will be the head coach of the Cannons, the first to revive elite midget baseball in this neck of the woods since the Vancouver Mounties discontinued operations five years ago. Considered to be the best league in Canada and arguably in North America for high-school-aged ballplayers, the PBL is a league for talented young ballplayers to aspire to, said Empey. "It's the only place in the Lower Mainland that didn't have a team. It's the third largest city in Canada. It seemed like a natural," Empey said. The Cannons are hoping that associations like Burnaby Minor will continue to work towards developing top players who, in the past have gravitated to the Coquitlam Reds and Fraser Valley teams. "Burnaby Minor is doing a good job developing their players. They have done a really good job," said Empey. "Burnaby has done really well trying to bring in instructors, coaches and players at the peewee and bantam levels. Two years ago, the peewee team made it into the B.C.'s for the first time. They didn't do so well, but it was a big step for them." Now, it's time for those graduating kids to take another step up, he added. The Cannons make their PBL debut with a doubleheader on April 11 at Queen's Park Stadium against the Coquitlam Reds. The Vancouver club has already started workouts. Any new players should contact Empey at 604-771-9736 or e-mail him at daveempey@shaw.ca. Empey has coached 10 players into professional baseball. The most well-known player is Chicago Cubs chucker Ryan Dempster. Empey helped develop Dempster while managing the North Shore Twins from 1993 to 2001. Dempster, an 11-year veteran in the major leagues, recently signed a four-year, $52 million contract with the Cubs. "This is not just a hockey thing. There are other things. It's harder to get to the Major League than it is to the NHL. But we've done it and they're not just players, they're stars," Empey said. © Burnaby Now 2009