A baseball doubleheader at the Chemainus Ball Park Saturday served a dual purpose.
The Port Alberni Cubs were there for tune-up games in advance of hosting the national 55+ championships Aug. 4-7.
The Stuart Channel Blue Heron and the Yellow Point Vultures, both composed of much younger players than the Cubs, were there to continue the mandate of the East Vancouver Island Baseball League to grow the game at the adult level and enjoy the chance to face different competition than themselves for the first time all season.
Mission accomplished on both fronts. The Cubs got that much-needed tournament preparation action and the EVIBL teams seized the opportunity to attract a wider audience back to the Chemainus Ball Park’s Larry Irving Field in the spirit of the town’s history when men’s teams played on a regular basis with fans packed into the grandstand.
The grandstand may be gone, but there’s definitely an appetite to have more special events like this one that included food vendors, an entertaining DJ known as Royal Savoie doing the announcing and just to regenerate the atmosphere of summer days spent at the ballpark.
“I was pretty satisfied with the whole event,” said Heath Fenton, who spearheaded the creation of the EVIBL last year and plays on the Vultures. “Eventually, I want to do a tournament at that park. That’s down the road.”
Related story: Adult baseball catching on with Port Alberni Cubs coming to town
The Blue Heron won the first game 9-3, but the old guys on the 57+ Cubs obviously saved some energy for the second game to defeat the Vultures 19-9.
Pitching was an issue for the Vultures, as they ran out of available arms to get through the game.
“We played the night before, too,” pointed out Fenton. “They have a lot more pitchers than we do. We started off good. It was just fun. I wasn’t too worried about beating them.”
The game at the Chemainus Ball Park Friday night went in favour of the Blue Heron and they now lead the season series over the Vultures 8-3, with four games left to play through August.
The Cubs’ Kelly McGiffin noted it was a great opportunity for his team to work on its game prior to the big event.
“We really focused on getting good at-bats and trying to make sound plays when we had the chance,” he noted. “And we were really pleased with our day overall, very valuable.”
Centrefielder Doug Chase made a diving catch and hit the ball cleanly and hard all day. Middle infielders Byron Tait and Ted Stewart looked smooth and ready, making strong plays through the two games.
“Totally impressed with the work the locals put into hosting us and are so appreciative of their effort,” McGiffin added. “Great to see the shared passion of the game and love the success story these young men are sharing and bringing baseball back to theatre. We can relate.”
The Blue Heron broke their game open with the Cubs in the middle innings and then held off a late Alberni rally for the win. Jon Aaron Hop Wo was solid in the starting pitching role for the Blue Heron, backed up by reliever Garrett Worthington.
“It’s pretty amazing,” said Hop Wo. “They’re a 55+ team, first of all not coming to play one game but coming to play two games.
“There’s things you have to do to make sure you’re not going to run out of pitching.”
The Ladysmith ‘49ers Under 11 baseball team came in on short notice when the scheduled hot dog vendor cancelled at the last minute. The ‘49ers raised $500 for a trip to the provincials in Surrey and filled the void by selling hot dogs to the hungry mob.
“It ended up going to a good cause,” enthused Fenton.
He was grateful to loyal scorekeeper Katie Theresa and all the players who chipped in to help.
”It was a fun day of baseball in these dog days of summer. We had friends and family out, and community support as well. It exceeded our expectations tenfold.”
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don.bodger@chemainusvalleycourier.ca
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