This time, head coach Dan Braddick missed the Gatorade shower.
The emptying of the Gatorade cooler was bestowed upon Braddick's right-handed starting pitcher Micah Davyduke, after he got the final Manitoba batter to fly out to right fielder Charlie Black to give the Vernon Canadians a 4-3 win over the team called Midwest – made up of players from the western part of Manitoba – in the Western Canadian U18 AA Baseball Championship final Sunday, Aug. 17, in St. Albert, Alta.
The win gives Vernon Baseball Association its first-ever Western Canadian minor baseball championship.
The provincial champion Cs handed the Manitoba champions their only loss of the tournament, avenging a 3-1 defeat in the opening game of the tournament for both teams.
"After the last out, there was a dog pile on the mound and the kids soaked Micah. They got me when we won provincials," laughed Braddick, getting ready to attend a celebratory dinner with his championship club Sunday night. "Micah and our other big right-hander, Koen Holmes, they were the two biggest reasons teams were terrified to play us. They were excellent all season, in the provincials, and here in St. Albert."
Davyduke went the distance Sunday, going seven innings, scattering five hits, allowing three runs (two earned runs), striking out eight and walking only two Midwest batters.
The winning run came in the top of the seventh inning, with the score tied 3-3.
Black – a pickup by the Canadians, along with his teammate Ryota Milum, from the Vancouver Mounties – hit into a fielder's choice, then moved from first to third on a single from Tyson Macleod. Black would score the Western Championship-winning run when Jordan Harrington blooped a one-out single into right field, just out of the first baseman's reach.
After dropping the first game of the tournament to Midwest, who went 4-0 to finish atop the standings and clinch last at-bats in the final, the Canadians won their next three games over the Alberta champion Camrose Cougars, the host St. Albert Cardinals, and the Saskatchewan reps, the Weyburn Beavers, to earn their spot in the winner-take-all title game.
"Besides the pitching, our hitting was so consistent," said Braddick. "One day, the top of the order would have a great game. Next game, it would be the middle or bottom of the order."
During the summer schedule, the Canadians lost just twice – once in the provincial championships, which they hosted at Marshall Field, to the Ladner Red Sox, and the loss to Midwest. Both times, the Cs avenged the defeats when it counted: in the gold-medal game.
At the outset of the summer league, coach Braddick set three lofty goals for his team: Win the Valley of the Champions tournament, the provincials, and the Western Canadians.
Mission accomplished.
"A lot of it came down to mental toughness," said Braddick. "We had one of the players' father do some work with the kids. The team bought into everything we brought to the table. They didn't half-ass anything. They worked hard all season long."
Five of the players – Ryder Hornhardt, Holmes, Vincent Sanfilippo, Everett Brown, and Harrington – played their final youth baseball games Sunday, aging out after the win. They were given a champagne shower by their teammates.
For Braddick, it's his second Western Canadian title.
The first game four years ago, when he and his son, Brennan, were picked up by the Mounties and won the Western Canadian U15 AA championship. That team also included Black and Milum.
"To win the first one with my son will always be special," said Braddick. "But I was so happy for my other coaches (Mike Sanfilippo, Rob Holmes, and Jason Gilbert) as they got to win one on Sunday coaching their kids."
Other members of the Western Canadian champion Vernon Canadians include Anthony Sanfilippo, Nixon Swanson, Luc Gilbert, Gabe Kibblewhite, Hayden Forgie, and Oliver Horne.
