The Trail All Stars came out of the gate swinging at the 2018 BC Little League Major Championship at Andy Bilesky Park on Saturday, however, Sunday was not so kind to the local team.
Following a celebratory opening ceremonies on Saturday that marked 65 years of Trail Little League - highlighted by former Trail Little Leaguer and Major League Baseball player Jason Bay throwing out the first pitch - Trail rung up 10 runs in the first inning and another eight in the second on the way to an 18-0 thumping of Beacon Hill.
The win was a tremendous start for the Trail side, whose manager D.J. Ashman said earlier that hitting would be key to their success.
In the other games Saturday, New Westminster beat Little Mountain 13-9, and in the night cap, Lynn Valley won a thrilling 5-3 match over Whalley. The game was 0-0 after five and tied 1-1 after six innings to force extra innings. Whalley took a 3-1 lead in the top half of the seventh with a two run bomb, but Lynn Valley wasn’t about to call it quits, as they loaded the bases with two outs, then hit a grand-slam home run for the walk off 5-3 victory.
In Sunday’s first game, Trail played in a highly anticipated match against Whalley. But unlike it’s opener, Trail’s bats went silent, as the Lower Mainland team mercied the Trail All Stars in four innings with a 10-0 victory.
Whalley’s Jordan Jaramillo went four innings without giving up a hit, walking one batter, and striking out seven in the shut out victory.
After a scoreless first inning, a Trail error set Whalley up for three straight hits on their way to a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
Trail couldn’t find any holes in the Whalley infield as a couple of slick fielding plays kept the All Stars off the board in the top of three, and Ian Huang’s three-run home run in the bottom half of the inning ended the game via the 10-run mercy rule after a scoreless fourth inning for Trail.
Update: In the Sunday afternoon matches Lynn Valley beat Little Mountain 3-2. and New West fell to Beacon Hill 3-2.
See Tuesday’s edition of the Trail Times or check trailtimes.ca for updates
