The J. L. Crowe Hawks baseball team hosts what is becoming its annual tournament this week at Butler Park.
The secondary-school team is made up of players from Grades 8 to 12 and is coached by Darren Miracle.
The Trail native rebooted the program in January, 2016, and, with the help of Crowe teachers, the Hawks formed both a junior varsity and varsity team. It will be the fourth straight season for the Tournament, and the Hawks will look to repeat their success from the inaugural event when it went undefeated, beating Mt. Boucherie 4-3 in a dramatic final.
Related read: J. L. Crowe Hawks baseball team finds silver lining in Cranbrook
Crowe, historically, has fielded formidable baseball teams with the likes of former college and pro players Jason Bay, Chris Kissock, Matt Mason, Kareem Johnson, and Todd Thompson playing on the last Crowe teams in the 1990s.
Miracle’s purpose from the start was to give local students the opportunity to keep playing baseball, and, most important, to enjoy the experience.
“The biggest thing is keeping kids more interested in ball,” he said. “We have trouble getting 16 and over to keep playing, well this is perfect to keep them playing. Give them a high-school league, give them somewhere to play, then they have the XBL in Trail (in summer). So it’s really good.”
The early January start in the Crowe gym and Field House jump starts the baseball season for a number of young players looking to play in the Trail Youth Baseball program and with the Junior and Senior Orioles.
The tournament will showcase a set of exhibition games on Thursday with Cranbrook playing Nelson at 4 p.m., followed by Kelowna’s Mt. Boucherie taking on Cranbrook at 7 p.m.
On Friday, the Hawks open with a game against Cranbrook at 10 a.m. However, Cranbrook is committed to play elsewhere on the weekend, so a mini-tournament will then commence among the remaining three teams.
The Hawks will play Kelowna at 2 p.m. Friday, with Nelson’s L.V. Rogers Bombers taking on Mt. Boucherie at 4:30 p.m. The final game of the day goes between J. L. Crowe and Mt. Boucherie at 7 p.m. at Butler
The second- and third-place teams play a semifinal match at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, with the winner taking on the top team in the final at noon.
sports@trailtimes.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter