Saanich Tigers led a long list of local midget lacrosse players who were drafted into the B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League on Jan. 5.
The Victoria Jr. Shamrocks used their first pick in the draft to select offensive star Kyle Pepper at fifth overall while the Nanaimo Jr. Timbermen picked Jackson Bowie out of Peninsula Minor Lacrosse at ninth overall followed by Tigers defender Levi Verch as their second pick at 10th overall.
Welcome to our 2019 draft class! ☘️ pic.twitter.com/NmUD8W04Jg
— Junior Shamrocks (@JrShamrocks) January 6, 2019
The Timbermen are particularly excited about getting Bowie and Verch as they believe both have a good chance of stepping in and playing as under-agers in 2019, said T-men general manager Dave Bremner.
“Bowie is a skilled lefty handed offensive player, who plays with a lot of drive and determination,” Bremner said. “He will quickly lead our core of young offensive players. And with the 10th pick we took the talented Levi Verch, a left hander who is big, who can transition the ball very well and will make teams weary of going to our net.
The Timbermen traded for the 12th pick from Langley to select Patrick Wong, another speedy right handed defensive player.
In fact, from ninth to 13th, all picks were from Greater Victoria as the Shamrocks chose Saanich player Joseph Zerr at 11th, and the Timbermen chose two more Saanich players, Patrick Wong and Riley Arsenault at 12th and 13th, respectively.
The Shamrocks closed out their draft with Logan Wright of Juan de Fuca at 21st overall, Graham Goodfellow of Saanich at 27th overall and Tyson Johnston of Peninsula at 37th. The Timbermen chose additional Saanich players Riley Mace at 24th overall and Nik Lepessis at 40th.
The Jr. Timbermen are hosting a free agent camp in Nanaimo on Feb. 24 for all undrafted free agents, in interested please contact jrtimbermenmanager@outlook.com. Next month the Jr. Shamrocks are offering midget lacrosse sessions with their players and coaches at Eagle Ridge, Feb. 10 and 17 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Cost is $60 for two sessions with information at Shamrocks.bcjall.com.
