A few tears were shed by the Penticton Thunder mosquito baseball team after losing the AA provincial championship in Newton last weekend 7-5 in extra innings to the Aldergrove Dodgers.
“After a couple of minutes, everyone was back smiling,” said Thunder coach Stephane Delisle-Lavoie. “We didn’t lose on an error, we didn’t lose against a bad team. We lost against the best team all summer.”
A Thunder 4-0 lead disappeared as the teams were tied at five after six innings. The Dodgers were able to secure the win after scoring two runs in the top of the eighth.
“We played very well. Everyone was happy with second place in B.C.,” said Delisle-Lavoie, adding they had a crowd of 50 come and support them. “They got better defensively, more focused, we hit well and pitched well.”
The Thunder completed the round robin with a 3-1 record, their only loss coming against the Dodgers. The Thunder posted wins against Quesnel, Surrey and Newton. In the semifinal, the Thunder downed the Burnaby Braves 8-3. The Thunder were the lone team to utilize all 12 pitchers.
The Thunder also did well in the skills competition, winning two of five events. Alan Woodhouse was the only player to hit a home run, sending a 220-foot dinger over the fence.
“It was fun because it was more like a real derby like the kids see on TV when they watch the MLB,” said Delisle-Lavoie.
The Thunder also won the around the horn event with Dominic Delisle-Lavoie, Marlo Spence, Dexter Madsen, Luke MacIntyre and Ben Avila. In that contest, the pitcher throws to the catcher, who throws to third, third throws to second, then to first and ends with catcher.
Other members of the Thunder are Ryan Paulhus, Nash Bilenki, Kaiden Skode, Khy Cutler, Connor Whitty and Jayke Anderson.