SUMMERSIDE – The Capital District Islanders and Halifax Mets have made a statement.
The two teams are clearly forces to be reckoned with at the Baseball Canada 2018 Atlantic 13-and-under championship at Queen Elizabeth Park.
The Charlottetown-based Islanders blanked the Fredericton Royals 9-0 in a first-place showdown in Pool B on Friday morning. The Islanders, who have outscored their opponents a combined 37-4, will take a 3-0 (won-lost) record into Saturday’s semifinal game against the Kennebecasis Valley Red Sox at 4 p.m.
The Mets, who have outscored their opposition 36-15 and completed the round robin with a 16-6 victory over the St. John’s Capitals on Friday afternoon, are also 3-0, and will face the Fredericton Royals (2-1) in Saturday’s other semifinal at 1 p.m. The medal games are Sunday.
The Red Sox punched their ticket to the semifinals with an exciting 9-8 victory over the host Summerside Chevys on Friday afternoon.
The Red Sox completed round-robin play 2-1 while the Chevys were 1-2. Summerside will meet Truro in the fifth-place game on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Capital District 9 Fredericton 0
Winning pitcher Jack MacKinnon tossed 6 1/3 innings of three-hit ball while striking out seven and issuing only one free pass. Aaron Hicks was the pitcher of record for Fredericton.
Brett Arsenault went 3-for-4, scored two runs and drove in a run sparked the Islanders’ offence. Luke Coughlin (2-3, three runs batted in) and Graysen LaPorte (2-3, RBI) also had multiple-hit games.
Brady Blacquier (2-2) was tops at the plate for Fredericton.
Kennebecasis Valley 9 Summerside 8
The Red Sox rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 9-7 lead. The Chevys, however, refused to quit and rallied for one run in their last at-bat to set the stage for a nail-biting finish.
Nathan Adams (2-2, run scored, RBI), Jacob Kaine (2-3, run scored, RBI) and Matthew Bauder (1-3, run scored, three RBIs) were key offensive contributors for Kennebecasis Valley.
Bennett Gallant drove in four runs and scored once to lead the Chevys on the strength of a 2-for-3 batting summary. Elliott Proud, Cole Echlin, Josh Burgess and Hayden Ellis also had hits for Summerside.
Kaine was credited with the pitching win, and Ellis was the pitcher of record for the Chevys.
Halifax 17 Summerside 7
In a game Thursday evening, the Mets rode two big early innings to an important win over the Chevys in a clash of 1-0 teams.
Halifax opened the scoring with a single run in the top of the first, scored four times in the second and then tacked on nine more runs in the third to open up a 13-0 lead after 2 ½ innings.
Jackson Montreuil, Adam Crocker, Benito Bonilla and Rory MacDonald all had multiple-hit games for the Mets.
Echlin (3-3, two runs scored) and Tyson Wedge (2-3, run scored) were Summerside’s top hitters.
MacDonald earned the pitching win over Proud.
Standings
Baseball Canada Atlantic peewee championship standings:
Pool A
W L
Halifax (N.S. 1) 3 0
Kennebecasis Valley (N.B. 2) 2 1
Summerside (Host) 1 2
St. John’s (N.L. 1) 0 3
Pool B
W L
Capital District (P.E.I. 1) 3 0
Fredericton (N.B. 1) 2 1
Truro (N.S. 2) 1 2
Mount Pearl (N.L. 2) 0 3
Scores
Baseball Canada Atlantic peewee championship results:
Friday’s Results
Capital District 9 Fredericton 0
Truro 11 Mount Pearl 0
Halifax 16 St. John’s 6
Kennebecasis Valley 9 Summerside 8
End of round robin.
Thursday’s Results
Fredericton 13 Mount Pearl 2
Capital District 11 Truro 1
Summerside 8 St. John’s 4
Halifax 3 Kennebecasis Valley 2
Capital District vs. Mount Pearl
Fredericton 3 Truro 2
Halifax 17 Summerside 7
Kennebecasis Valley 11 St. John’s 5
Schedule
Baseball Canada Atlantic peewee championship schedule:
Saturday, Sept. 15
10 a.m. – Seventh-place game: Mount Pearl vs. St. John’s.
10 a.m. – Fifth-place game: Summerside vs. Truro.
1 p.m. – Semifinal: Fredericton vs. Halifax.
4 p.m. – Semifinal: Kennebecasis Valley vs. Capital District (semifinal).
Sunday, Sept. 16
10 a.m. – Bronze-medal game.
1 p.m. – Gold-medal game.
