It was a close game played by the Lake Cowichan Mosquito Royalees and Grey Hawks on Tuesday, May 22, at Lake Cowichan Little League Park. Parents, grandparents, and fans gathered to watch an exciting game played by these two talented Lake Cowichan teams.
At the bottom of the first inning the teams were tied 2-2. Pitching by Nicholas Hill for the Hawks and Ryder Wise for the Royalees allowed no runs in the second inning. First-time to the mound pitcher Joey Janzen managed to continue the defence for the Hawks during the top of the third. Offensive batting by Kendall Burgstrom with a double, and Josh Hill with a triple, allowed the Hawks to pull ahead 5-2. Pitcher Arron Croteau shut down the Hawks with nine pitches in the top of the fourth, only to be followed by pitcher Josh Hill shutting down the Royalees allowing no runs and holding onto the lead at the bottom of the fourth. Fifth inning was determined open by umpire Rai Mullin. The Royalees being the visiting team took to the bats first, and with aggressive base running managed to score four runs on the offense and take the lead of 6-5 at the top of the fifth. Once again Hawks took to the bats against pitcher Aaron Croteau, who continued to be on fire, and managed to hold onto the lead by pitching three outs. Excellent team effort was played by all team mates and a great show of sportsmanship as friends versus friends.
—Submitted by Connie Vaughan