The 15U AA Cowichan Valley Mustangs lost just one game all season.
Unfortunately, that lone defeat came in their biggest contest of the year: the provincial final on Aug. 22.
After winning 26 straight over the summer, the Mustangs hit a wall in the championship game, losing 9-4 to the host Ridge Meadows Royals.
“We gave up seven runs in the first inning and we couldn’t catch up,” head coach Shawn Freer lamented.
The Mustangs had played the same team a day earlier, in the last round-robin game for both teams, after the standings were already decided and they knew they’d be meeting again in the final. Cowichan won that game 14-4.
“They got us in the final,” Freer commented. “It was a tough one. That’s baseball for you.”
The Mustangs went a perfect 18-0 in their Island league, then swept best-of-three playoff sets against Abbotsford and North Island to reach the final five tournament in Ridge Meadows.
Team members included Sam Smith, Myles Gray, Nolan Freer, Gabe Wiebe, Cooper Smith, Noah Atkinson, Dylan Hodson, Connor Harper, Olin Hoover, Blaine Wilson, Sisaye Patterson and Flynn Shugar. The coaches included Shawn Freer, Mike Gray, Brendan Wilson and Brody Deverill.
“It was a great group of players, for sure,” coach Freer stated.