The North Shore Baseball Association has its first ever provincial championship banner thanks to their 18U AAA team.
The NSBA squad claimed the B.C. title by topping the Penticton Tigers 4-3 in the provincial final Sunday at Walnut Grove Park in the Township of Langley. The win capped off a perfect championship tournament for the team as they scored five straight wins over four days, July 27-30. With the win, the 18Us became the first NSBA team to claim a provincial title since the association was formed in 2016.
“I’m just really happy for the boys,” said head coach and NSBA vice president Jon Alpen. “This is very competitive baseball and the boys worked really hard as a team this season and they deserve full credit for their success. I am also really pleased to see how far we have come as a baseball club since we were set up in 2016. To win a provincial banner is huge.”
The win earned the team a berth in the Western Canadian Championships running Aug. 18-20 in Winnipeg where they will face other provincial champions.
Pitcher Phoenix Babuin earned game MVP honours in the B.C. final after closing out the win.
“The provincial championship was such an amazing experience,” he said. “I can’t wait to see how we do against the other provinces when we bring our A-game at the Westerns.”
