The first-year Chemainus junior men’s baseball team extended its season by playing in the South Island Baseball League’s Labour Day weekend tournament in Victoria.
Chemainus was the only one of the six teams entered in the event from outside Victoria.
Chemainus faced the SIBL team in its first game and went down to defeat on the mercy rule.
The score in the second game stood at 2-1 for the Red Sox when Chemainus came to bat for the last time in the seventh inning.
Adam Fukakusa got on base and eventually stole third, with Cole Whitelaw’s RBI hit tying the game. Jared Roberts then came to bat, Whitelaw stole second and Roberts delivered an RBI hit to score Whitelaw with the winning run.
Excellent pitching by Jordy Frost was huge in the outcome.
The third game was against the Mavericks and strong pitching by Gobind Sol and Adam Sakuma carried Chemainus to a 13-8 victory.
A 14-0 mercy rule loss to the Giants followed, but Chemainus still qualified for the semifinals on Labour Day.
It was a rematch with the Giants and Chemainus’ roster got reduced from 14 players to nine due to injury. That’s with Adam Fukakusa playing despite a pulled hamstring.
Chemainus took an early 3-0 lead against the Giants, but ended up losing 15-5 to the strong Giants on the mercy rule again. Keith Fukakusa recorded three RBIs in the loss.
All in all, it was a much better season than the Chemainus lads thought it might be for a first-year team.
The newly-formed Ladysmith Pilots, managed by Tyler Armstrong, formed the opposition for an ensuing doubleheader.
It’s hoped that more associations will jump on board for junior men’s teams in Duncan, Nanaimo and Lake Cowichan. Eligibility is for 18 to 25-year-olds.
Anyone interested in joining the junior men’s team can contact Chemainus &District Baseball Association Vice President Rick Shay (250-709-7524).