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The Victoria Bantam Eagles just missed out on booking a spot in the semifinals of the Bantam BC Premier League Championship Tournament, held August 27-29 at several sites on the lower mainland. The Eagles were placed in a tough pool, based at McLeod Park in Langley, with the Coquitlam Reds, UBC Thunderbirds, and pool host and league leviathan Langley Blaze, who finished first during the league season with a record of 28-5.

In the first game in pool play on August 27, the Eagles knocked off Coquitlam 4-1. The following day they launched a furious comeback rally to beat UBC Thunderbirds by a score of 7-5. With a spot in the semifinal at stake in the final game of pool play, the Eagles were overpowered by Langley’s power bats, succumbing by a score of 10-4.

The first game in pool play, against the Coquitlam Reds, was a tense affair. The two teams had split their previous four games against one another, each team taking two wins at their home parks. Further, three of the previous four games against the Reds had resulted in walk-off victories for the home side, so it promised to be a nailbiter.

The Reds started right-hander Jack McLeod, one of the top Bantam pitchers in the province and a veteran of Team BC and the Burnaby Braves U13 squad that won the 2019 Canadian Western National Championship. McLeod had no-hit the Eagles in his last matchup against the club on August 15 in Coquitlam, but the Victoria squad ensured that there would be no such offensive futility this time.

With two outs in the first inning, slugging centrefielder Damian Cataldo launched a towering drive to right field, a shot that would have been well gone in many Bantam PBL parks, and wound up at third with a standup triple. The next batter, cleanup hitter Sullivan Humeniuk, found himself down 1-2, before slapping a clean single up the middle to bring home Cataldo, an excellent piece of contact hitting.

Eagles starter Quinn Valley then set about dismantling the Coquitlam lineup, striking out the side in both the first and second innings. However, McLeod recovered from the shaky first inning to match Valley’s effort, having amassed six strikeouts of his own by the end of the third inning.

The Reds bats finally came alive in the bottom of the third. Designated hitter Jimmy Piasentin led off with a sharp single to centre and, with one out, shortstop Rexford Yuen followed him with a line drive single to right. With runners on first and second, left fielder David Dorland, another veteran of Team BC, slapped a sharp single to right field, driving in Piasentin. Eagles hurler Valley recovered to record two outs in succession, limiting the damage and knotting the score at 1-1.

The top of the fourth saw the Eagles threaten again, but ultimately come up short. Shortstop Ryan Day lead off with a crisp single to centre and advanced to second on a passed ball. However, strikeouts would prove Victoria’s undoing. Although right fielder Garen Geoghegan reached on an error by Reds third baseman Logan McNamara, sending Day to third. The Eagles could not push a run across in the frame.

Fortunately for Victoria fans, Valley was equal to the task. Although Coquitlam put the leadoff runner on in the bottom of the fourth, the lanky righty was able to work out of the jam by recording three quick outs.

The top of the fifth finally provided the Eagles some semblance of a margin as Valley helped his own cause with the defining blast of the game. The inning started with Callahan Cowan reaching first on a dropped third strike. McLeod was then called for a balk on an attempted pickoff play. The call seemed to unsettle the Reds star pitcher as he proceeded to walk third baseman Jack Valikoski, Cowan reaching third on a wild pitch during the at bat.

With catcher Lukas LeGras at the plate, Valikoski stole second, giving the Eagles two runners in scoring position. With one out, Valley wasted no time at the plate, sending the first pitch from McLeod on a screaming line drive over centre fielder Nate James’ head. The rocket off Valley’s bat drove in two runs and enabled the Eagles starter to wind up at third with a stand up triple.

The Eagles next batter, leadoff hitter Max Rudnyckyj, then dropped a Texas Leaguer into short centre field that fell just out of reach in the triangle between the Reds second baseman, shortstop and centre fielder. The hit drove in Valley to bring the score to 4-1 in Victoria’s favour and Rudnyckyj alertly took second on seeing the base was uncovered as the middle infielders had chased the elusive orb. The Reds removed McNamara from third and had him heating up in the pen as, with one out, it looked like Victoria might break the game open. However, McLeod recovered two record two quick outs and the game moved on to the bottom of the fifth.

Valley appeared determined to notch the win in the affair and although the Reds put runners on in both the fifth and sixth they were unable to push another run across. McNamara came in to relieve McLeod in the sixth and recorded five of his six outs on strikeouts as the Eagles would not manage another hit following their inspired fourth inning rally.

Valley appeared to tire in the bottom of the seventh. As the Eagles clung to the 4-1 margin, Reds catcher Everett Bertsch ledoff the inning with a sharp single to centre. Valley then walked second baseman Owen Lattimer on four pitches. With the tying run at the plate, Eagles co-manager Nate Postle signaled to right-field to bring in hard throwing flame thrower Garen Geoghegan. Valley finished his outing with 12 strikeouts in six innings, allowed only one run and no extra base hits.

With runners on first and second Geoghegan was equal to the task, pounding the strike zone with his trademark heavy fastball. The righty struck out Piasentin and McLeod, bringing shortstop Rexford Yuen to the plate. Yuen managed to slap a soft single to right, loading the bases and setting up a climactic showdown with Team BC veteran Dorland. Geoghegan got two quick strikes on the speedy right hander, before he coaxed a soft popfly that the pitcher gloved with ease, protecting a hard-fought Eagles victory and notching a well-earned save.

Saturday’s first matchup saw the Eagles match up in a midday test with the UBC Thunderbirds, a team the Victoria nine had handled with relative ease in four previous matchups during the league season. Lanky right-hander Niko Gratton matched up against methodical UBC hurler Nolan Hunt. UBC jumped out to an early lead as shortstop Robbie Jamieson drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a single by second baseman Matt Vrlak and then scored with one out on a dribbler that Gratton fielded just off the mound and smartly threw to first, rather than trying to nab the speedy Jamieson at the plate.

The Eagles grabbed the run back in the bottom of the frame. Second baseman Max Rudnyckyj lined a clean single to centre and then stole second. Shortstop Ryan Day then drove him in with a double to centre. With centre fielder Damian Cataldo at the plate, Day advanced to third on a balk before Cataldo was plunked on the leg by Hunt.

Cataldo then stole second, putting two runners in scoring position with cleanup hitter Sullivan Humeniuk at the plate. In an excellent piece of situational hitting, Humeniuk pushed a groundball to Thunderbird first baseman Jeffrey Jamieson, scoring Day and moving Cataldo to third. Designated hitter Quinn Valley then singled to left to drive in Cataldo and make the Eagles lead 3-1.

Gratton retired the side in order in the second, before the Eagles loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame against Hunt. Although they managed three hits and a walk in the frame they were unable to push a run across.

The top of the third saw UBC roar back to tie the game as bottom of the order hitter Brayden Scott ledoff with a solid single to centre and then, with one out scored on a booming triple to left centre off the power bat of Vrlak. Vrlak then came into score on a groundout to shortstop Day, knotting the score at 3-3.

The Eagles again looked poised to have a big inning in the bottom of the third, when the hot hitting Valley recorded a standup triple on a thunderous shot to the opposite field. Hunt appeared rattled by the blast, walking first baseman Nick Ohman and third baseman Garen Geoghegan, and bringing right fielder Travis Perlman to the plate with only one out. Perlman launched a drive that was caught by Parker Eastwood-Lillies in medium deep left field. Valley attempted to tag up and score on the play, but UBC executed an excellent relay to the pate and nabbed him by a hair, preserving the tie.

Righthander Jack Jeffrey came on to relieve Gratton in the top of the fourth and set the Thunderbirds down while only yielding a walk to catcher Edward Wilde. Hunt did Jeffrey one better in the bottom of the frame, retiring the Eagles in order.

With the game balanced on a knife’s edge, the Eagles seemed in danger of letting it slip away in the top of the fifth. Leadoff hitter Robbie Jamieson reached on an error, but Jeffrey managed two quick outs, getting the hot hitting Vrlak on a flyout to left and striking out power threat Oliver Clements on three pitches. However, cleanup hitter Dylan Pryde lined a single to left field, scoring Jamieson who had stolen second. Pryde advanced to second on a throwing error as the Eagles sought to nab Jamieson at the plate. Robbie’s twin brother Jeffrey Jamieson then lined a single to centre, knocking in Pryde. Eagles reliever Jeffrey recovered to strike out Eastwood-Lillies, but UBC had taken a 5-3 lead.

The Eagles futility with runners in scoring position looked as if it might cost the team, but the squad showed its depth of character in regaining the lead in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Cataldo singled, stole second and moved to third on a ground ball to short by Humeniuk. Quinn Valley then came to the plate with two out and drew a four-pitch walk, Cataldo scoring on a passed ball. With the team clinging to a 5-4 lead, the Thunder went to the bullpen, bringing in right hander Emmanuel Astrakianakis to try to put down the rally.

Astrakianakis had trouble finding the strike zone. A walk to Nick Ohman brought Geoghegan to the plate. Geoghegan grounded a sharp single to left, scoring Valley and sending Ohman to third. Ohman then scored on a single by right fielder Perlman, giving the Eagles a 7-5 advantage.

UBC appeared deflated after surrendering their two-run advantage and could only manage a two-out walk in the seventh the rest of the way. Eagles reliever Jeffrey ended the game with a called third strike on a curveball against Pryde who represented the tying run in the bottom of the seventh.

The victory set up a climactic evening showdown under the lights with the lower mainland juggernaut Langley Blaze to decide which team would advance from the pool to the semifinals of the year end tournament. The Blaze had finished first in league play, with a record of 28-5 and carried a roster full of some of the lower mainland’s elite players. Both teams were undefeated at 2-0 in pool play in the tourney and the winner would make it through the pool gauntlet to advance to the semifinals and face the White Rock Tritons, hosts of the final round.

Langley had amassed an early 2-0 lead with solo runs in the first and second, the big blast coming off the bat of designated hitter Carter Germain, who lined a triple to left centre driving in catcher Noah Laird. The Blaze tallied two more runs in the third, with three-hole hitter Owen Fernandes blasting another triple to left off Eagles starter Garen Geoghegan.

However, the Eagles began to chip away in the bottom of the fourth. Centre fielder Damian Cataldo lined a shot down the left field for a one-out double. First baseman Sullivan Humeniuk then barrelled a clean single to centre to drive in Cataldo, taking second on the throw home. Humeniuk advanced to third on a passed ball and right fielder Quinn Valley walked to put runners at the corners. Valley then distracted Blaze starter Jack Thompson, forcing a balk on a delayed steal that allowed Humeniuk to score. Valley made it as far as third, advancing on another balk, but Thompson recovered to strike out the next two Eagles hitters.

Although the Eagles had cut the Langley margin in half at the end of the inning, the Blaze effectively put the game away in the top of the fifth. Left-handed fireballer Nick Ohman had entered in relief of Geoghegan in the fourth and had set down the side in order, spotting up a tricky slider and devastating fastball. However, Langley figured out how to hit Ohman in the fifth, tallying five runs on a quartet of singles, a walk and an error.

With the score 9-2, the Eagles battled back in the bottom of the sixth against star Blaze pitcher Stefano Siniscalchi. Siniscalchi loaded the bases on walks to Ryan Day, Damian Cataldo, and Quinn Valley, bringing designated hitter Travis Perlman to the plate. With one out, Perlman rapped a hard single down the first base line that looked destined for the corner. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the ball somehow struck the first base bag, remaining in the infield, but nevertheless pushing Day across with the Eagles third run.

A one-out walk to Geoghegan brought in Cataldo and it looked like the Eagles might be poised for a big comeback inning. However, it wasn’t too be this time, as Langley reliever Trim came in to get two quick outs and snuff out the budding rally.

The Blaze tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh to push the score to 10-4 and the Eagles put two runners on with no outs in the bottom of the frame, but the Blaze were equal to the task and put the game away with a trio of outs to claim their spot in the semifinals.

The Eagles were gutted to miss out on a chance to play for a PBL championship, but proud to return to the Island with a winning record in the tournament. On balance, the season was a great success as the team won 20 games in league play and finished tied for fourth place with crosstown rivals the Victoria Mariners. The players, parents and fans are grateful to co-managers Nate Postill and Parker Swinton and assistant coaches Jason Leslie and Tom Geoghegan for the countless hours they spent working with the team.