Richmond Chuckers capped a terrific all-star season with a bronze medal finish at B.C. Baseball’s 11U AAA Tier One Provincial Championships in Nanaimo over the B.C. Day Weekend.
The Chuckers secured a semi-final berth thanks to a 3-1 record in round-robin play with wins over Duncan, Cloverdale and Prince George. The lone loss was to defending champion and top seed Abbotsford. Richmond then fell to a red-hot White Rock team — setting the stage for the bronze medal game against host Nanaimo.
In front of packed crowd, the Chuckers came through with a 9-7 victory — earning Richmond City Baseball its first provincial medal in recent memory.
“Playing six games in three days required a true team effort. We used 11 pitchers, hit six home runs, hit hard, ran fast and made spectacular defensive plays,” said Chuckers head coach John Parnell.
“Most importantly, the kids made memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. The coaching staff was amazing and the parent group even better. The hosts from Nanaimo put on a tremendous championship that was enjoyed by all.”
Parnell's staff included Sean O’Neill, Ian Thomas and Adam Schwartz.
The team featured: Adrian “Mo” Wong, Aldrich Lin, Ben O’Neill, Cole Yamazaki, Dylan Thomas, Jack Bello, Jack Schwartz, Jacob Broderick, Jake Parnell, Johnny Crocker, Keenan Thomas and Koji Okuyama.
The provincials began with a skill contest that featured plenty of Richmond highlights.
The team of Wong, D. Thomas, Okuyama and Broderick finished first in the base running relay.
Bello, Lin and Crocker were second in the outfield throwing competition, while O’Neill, Yamazaki, K. Thomas, Schwartz were fourth in the infield relay event.
Finally the night ended with a bang as Parnell was runner-up in the always-entertaining home run competition. He actually hit the most dingers but was edged out for top honours by just two points.
