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Sports year in reveiw: West Kootenay baseball teams battle for top spots

The Trail Times is reviewing the memorable moments of sports in 2013. In this issue we’ll look back on July to September.


July

2- Adam Tambellini son of Trail native Steve Tambellini is drafted by the New York Rangers in the third round 65th overall of the NHL draft from the Surrey Eagles of the BCHL. Merritt Centennial defenceman Dane Birks, a former Trail Smoke Eater, is drafted in the sixth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

3 – Three junior golfers from Rossland, Braden and Taylor McKay and Brenan Moroney, tee off at the B.C. Junior Golf championship in Revelstoke.

4 – The Trail AM Ford Orioles earn some cool hard cash by placing third in the Canada Day Baseball Blast tournament in Kelowna. The team went undefeated in the round robin and narrowly missed the final as the Thurston County Senators from Seattle rallied late for a 2-1 win.

5 – The Trail Reds take the Trail Youth Baseball League junior championship with victory over the Trail Mariners.

10 – The Kootenay South Select U15 Bighorns soccer team takes bronze at the Les Sinnott Memorial Boys Provincial Cup in Prince George.

12 – The Trail Martial Arts Club with instructor Jason Ayles send nine athletes to the Tae Kwon Do International 10th Open World championships in Coventry, England.

17 – West Kootenay AA Diamondbacks clinch the Washington State American Legion AA Federal division title with a 15-5 victory over the Colville Crusaders ensuring a spot in the District tournament. The Diamonbacks went 18-2 on the season.

- Even more amazing, after dropping its first six games, the Single-A West Kootenay Phillies went on a 10-1-1 run to finish second in their division and  qualify for the Washington State American Legion A District championship held in Spokane.

18 – Greater Trail Special Olympians Sherry Altrogge, Alyssa Berdusco, and Stuart Hawton combine to win a total of 17 medals at the B.C. Special Olympic Summer Games in Langley.

19 – Greater Trail Swim Club’s Eden and Dylan Kormendy, and Ian Markus all take home medals in the B.C. AAA Provincial Long Course championship at UBC.

23 – Trail Martial Arts athletes Mattias Haffmand and Mary Ann MacLean each win bronze at the Tae Kwon Do World championships in Coventry England.

24 – Fruitvale’s Brad Harding wins the Birchbank Golf Club’s 2013 Men’s championship hitting a 1-under par 143 for the title.

Jackson Konkin, 13, wins gold in his age group at the Kids of Steel Triathlon in Penticton.

26 – Former Trail resident Ryan Huska and members of his ‘95 Memorial Cup winning team the Kamloops Blazer are inducted into the B.C. Hockey Hall of fame.

August

1 – Trail native Brian Dibiasio cards a 2-under par 70 on the final day of the B.C. Senior Men’s championship to take second spot behind four-time Canadian Amateur champion Doug Roxburgh.

6 – A total of 14 Trail Stingray swimmers compete at the Kootenay Regional Swim Meet in Kimberley and take home 25 medals, led by Elijah Grebe who captured two gold and two silver.

Greater Trail Swim Club members Eden Kormendy, Jackson Konkin, and Adrian Hamilton cruise to first place in the team event at they Cyswon’n Fun Triathlon in Nelson.

7 – Trail AM Ford Orioles finished fourth at provincials but secure the B.C. Senior Men’s Baseball championship for Butler Park in 2014.

Eden Kormendy of the Greater Trail Swim Club just misses the podium finishing fourth in the 50-metre and 200-m. breaststroke at the Canadian Age Group Swimming championship in Montreal.

13 – Trail native Dan Dupuis returns to his home course to take the 68th annual Birchbank Men’s Open by shooting a 7-under 65 in his final round for a three day total of 11-under.

15 – The Castlegar Rebels and the Nelson Maple Leafs of the KIJHL make a blockbuster deal with the Rebels sending their top two scorers Trail native Jamie Vlanich, and Travis Wellman to the Leafs for Dallon Stoddard, James Sorrey, and Seth Schmidt.

23 –26 Close to 4,000 seniors converge on Kamloops for the B.C. Senior Games including almost 180 from the Kootenay-Boundary region that took home 113 medals, including 50 gold, 40 silver, and 23 bronze.

29 – The Cominco Arena was the sight of a historic match between the BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters and the Selkirk College Saints of the BC Intercollegiate Hockey League, with the Smokies winning 8-6 in the first ever meeting between the two teams.

September

4 - Trail’s Mike Mondin and the National Sledge Hockey Team win gold at the Four Nations Tournament in Sochi, Russia.

10 - Trail Smoke Eaters open their season on a positive note taking 3-of-4 points in its opening two games at the Bauer-BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack.

11 - Nelson Killjoys defeat the Salmo Babes of Brutality in the West Kootenay Roller Derby League championship winning the coveted Golden Boot.

12 - Joe Guerico and Nick Murano win the RBC-Italico Senior Men’s Bocce Tournament at the Trail Bocce Facility in the Gulch.

- Warfield natives Mitch and Tom Pitman join the Canadian snowboard-cross development team for training in Ushaia, Argentina.

17 - J.L. Crowe athletics commences with the 41st senior girls volleyball tournament, bolstered by the addition of students from Rossland Secondary School.

26 - The Trail Winter Swim Club hire new coach Bill Park, a seasoned and esteemed instructor in the competitive swim world with 35 years experience on the national and international stage.