Burnaby Minor Baseball had a good start to the month of August, winning two provincial championship titles.
Burnaby defended its 11-and-under AA mosquito title with a 9-3 victory over Ladysmith in the gold-medal final in Port Alberni on Monday.
The association's 13-and-under AA peewee team also struck gold, taking the provincial title in a cakewalk, blitzing Kelowna 23-2 in the provincial final in Comox.
A third Burnaby Minor team also made it to the final four of the provincial A peewee championships in Surrey before falling 11-7 to eventual runner-up Vancouver in the semifinals.
In mosquito final, provincial MVP Matthias Vaid and Jordan Swannie combined for a three-hitter, while Josh Harpestad got the Braves off to solid start with a three-run triple in the opening inning.
Up 5-2 in the sixth, Mathew Friesen brought home two more runs on a timely bunt and a throwing error to help avenge the team's only tournament blemish, 9-9 tie against Ladysmith.
In earlier pool play, Tristan Haggart pitched a no-hitter in Burnaby's 19-0 win over Newton. Mathieu Laroche came on in relief and allowed a single hit.
"It's huge for our park.
It's always a battle to get kids out to all-stars, but what a year," said Burnaby head coach Brent Swannie. "Everyone contributed in some way - big time. We had to be a complete team because Ladysmith was solid. Our pitching and defence took us all the way. We were making double plays and making diving catches, which is unheard of at this age."
Burnaby went unbeaten in Pool A play, knocking off rival South Burnaby 16-1 in the semifinal to advance to the final.
South Burnaby, 2-3-1 in Pool B, wound up in fourth place in the mosquito division following a 9-8 semifinal loss to Aldergrove.
At the AA peewee provincials, Burnaby breezed to the B.C. title with a 6-0 record, outscoring their combined opposition 89-16 at the provincials.
Prior to the provincials, the Burnaby team entered a u-15 baseball tournament south of the border and seeing the faster pitching paid off, said Braves head coach Willie Mabone.
"After that, it was like everything we had worked for all season came together," Mabone said.
Eleven-year-old Theo Millas threw six strong innings for the peewee Braves in an 11-1 semifinal win over Ladner, highlighted by a suicide-squeeze bunt in the bottom of the fourth by Mattia Magione that broke open a tight 1-0 game.
Later in the inning, Ryan Baker swatted a two-run home run to increase the Braves' lead.
Baker held a hot bat in the final as well, belting his second two-run dinger in as many days to lead off a 4-0 opening inning in the final against Kelowna.
Marshall Luiz got the win on the mound, throwing a five-inning, two-hitter for the Braves.
The win over Kelowna was sweet, said Mabone, who experienced past losses against the Okanagan club in last season's provinicial semifinal and again in the 2010 mosquito final.
"They put a pretty good beating on us last year," said Mabone. "It felt good."
In the single A peewee semifinal, Andrew Merkens stole home on a passed ball in the second inning, but it wasn't enough of a spark to overcome a fourrun opening inning by Vancouver. Burnaby topped Pool A with a 5-0 record following a come-from-behind 8-7 win over Cloverdale.
Jason Merkens shut down the Surrey club in the final three innings, while Sam English and Curtis Alsop, with a tworun, game-winning hit, had key at-bats in the five-run comeback.
Earlier in pool play, Burnaby's Devin Alsop clubbed a grand slam home run in the second inning in a 20-7 victory over Port Alberni.
Alex Laroche also went yard, tagging two dingers, including a two-run shot in the win.
"The kids were great. I couldn't have wished for a more amazing team," said head coach Markus Merkens.
Burnaby Minor's 15-and-under AA bantam team also made it to the provincial championships in Rutland but failed to advance to the semifinals.
"The program is getting better," said Mabone. "(Burnaby Minor) was association of the year last year, and we won two finals this season. It says a lot about the growth of the baseball program.
"It was well deserved. (The boys) worked hard for it."
