With dogged determination and a strong nose for big-game efforts, is it any surprise the Canadian senior men’s baseball champions are called the Burnaby Bulldogs?
The squad from Robert Burnaby Park endured a marathon series last week in Victoria and emerged victorious, beating the Fredericton Royals 5-3 in the final Sunday at Royal Athletic Park.
A three-run bomb in the seventh, delivered by Burnaby product Scott Webster, proved to be the defining hit of the final, coming with two outs and the squad clinging to a 2-1 lead.
“Scott had struggled earlier in the game so it was great to see him come through with such a huge home run. Seeing him hit the home run is why guys like him stay in the lineup regardless of struggles, because they can do things like that anytime they swing the bat,” remarked manager Mike Sinclair.
Burnaby built up a 2-0 lead in the top of the second, when Jeff Bouchard scored on Pascal McCarthy’s sac fly, and Tyler Yorko crossed home plate on a passed ball. While the New Brunswick squad put one across in the bottom of the third, the game remained a one-run contest until Webster cleared the fence in the seventh with his second of the tournament.
It was a testament to starting pitcher Shawn Andersen, who went four solid innings, and reliever Josh Larsen, who hurled two scoreless innings, that the Bulldogs entered the seventh in complete control.
But Fredericton, which fielded the best offence of the tourney, applied plenty of pressure against lefthander Shawn Schaefer, who came in to close out the win. A Douglas College product, Schaefer was making his second appearance of the day after painting a nine-inning masterpiece in the semifinal. More on that win later.
With three outs to go, Schaefer was met by back-to-back singles and a one-out, two RBI double by the Royals’ Mark Phillips to make it 5-3. But the Pitt Meadows native settled down and recorded the next two outs – with the game ending with Fredericton’s Jeff Watkins striking out.
“Our roster at nationals consisted of 20 players who were with us all summer and (Schaefer) as the only pickup,” said Sinclair. “He did more than you could even hope for in a pickup; starting two games on the mound, and closing out the final.”
He had joined Burnaby for the nationals after earlier in the month providing the hammer with his regular club, the Coquitlam Angels, in a thrilling 8-7 win over the Bulldogs at the provincial final in Prince George. Schaefer, who collected two wins and two saves en route to being named the provincial MVP, has been on Sinclair’s redial list as a frequent pickup over the years.
“(Schaefer) has been loyal to the Bulldogs, second only to his own team,” noted Sinclair. “He has joined us at tournaments, provincials, and nationals going back to our win at 2010 nationals.”
Now back to Saturday’s semifinal, where Burnaby faced Red Deer – who in the first game of the round robin handed the B.C. champs a 5-0 setback. Deadlocked 1-1 after seven innings, the game unfolded with a cascade of Bulldog hits in the ninth, as Jeff Bouchard delivered a full-count, two-out grand slam following RBIs from James Zamko and Braydon Munro.
Schaefer, who posted a tourney-best 16 strikeouts over 16 innings, went the distance. He fired 102 pitches, 65 of which went for strikes, and fanned eight.
The route to the nationals began a year earlier, when Burnaby locking up its 2017 spot by besting Coquitlam 7-2 at the 2016 provincials in Nanaimo. The following 12 months served as an opportunity to fundraise and prepare the team for the formidable test against the other provinces best.
Sinclair, who has been with the club since 2002 and took over as manager three years ago, said the squad faced various hurdles during the year with resilience and determination.
“We had peaks and valleys (but) those are what help build a team,” the Burnaby native said. “When a team is forced to go through adversity you either come together and fight for one another or you fall apart. Knowing we had nationals at the end of the summer our focus for the first half of the year was to get everyone ample opportunities to earn spots and playing time… This was all part of the process to build for nationals.”
The roster consists of factions from Douglas College, a group from UBC and a variety of veterans who’ve taken the dream to such colleges as Southwest Baptist, Minot State and Eastern Oregon.
“Every individual had skills and talents to bring but that doesn’t win. Getting them to be one team was what allowed us to succeed,” said Sinclair.
That process took them through the season-opening Grand Forks International tourney, where they got to the quarterfinals, and an exhibition series against the Victoria Harbourcats, where they lost by a single run and played to a wild 17-17 standoff.
It all came together at the nationals, where a number of players took turns with standout efforts. Infielders James Zamko and Kyle McComb sparked three double plays in the final, while McComb was named the tourney’s top defensive player. Zamko led the Bulldogs with a .476 batting average and scored 10 run.
Putting up a .474 average was Munro, while Jeff Bouchard hit .400 and drove in 13 runs. Burnaby’s Dan Altoe pitched a gem in the quarter-final as the Bulldogs downed Ontario’s Tecumseh 11-3.
“The best part was there were three groups to start the season and just one group when we ended it,” remarked general manager David Laing.
