It'll be a battle of giant-killers at the B.C. Premier Baseball League midget championship at Delair Park in Abbotsford this weekend.
The three top finishing teams, including 39-9 regular season champion Langley Blaze, were all eliminated in first-round playoff series earlier this week.
The Vancouver Cannons upset the Blaze in their best-of-three series, winning the tiebreaker 4-1 behind a five-hit complete game effort from junior national team thrower Connor Noble at McLeod Park in Langley on Sunday.
"We actually beat them two times this season. We felt pretty confident about it," Cannons coach Dave Empey said, adding with Noble on the mound, "We were in pretty good shape."
The difference proved to be Vancouver's 5-1 win over Langley in the opening game last Saturday.
Burnaby's Ryan Matsuda threw a complete game and Sam Mitchell belted a couple doubles, including an RBI, and scored twice to lead the Cannons.
In the second game, the Blaze scored seven times in the seventh inning to knot the series following a 13-5 win over the Cannons.
In the tiebreaker, Nicolas Favaro doubled in Max Wood in the first inning for the game's opening run.
The Cannons added two more in the top of the second, when Markus Helyar and Armand Ewusie batted home Tyler Smythe and Josh Gaudette, who had got on base with lead off walks.
In the sixth inning, Ewusie brought home Gaudette again, this time on an infield error.
With the first-round win, the Queen's Park-based midgetteam moved on to the Final Four playdowns hosted by the fourth-place-finishing Abbotsford Cardinals, the highest-seeded team still remaining in the post season.
Sixth-place Victoria Eagles and seventh-place Nanaimo Pirates also advanced with upset wins over the North Shore and runner-up Victoria Mariners, respectively.
"We're a very young team, but we've been playing pretty well all year," said Empey. "We're just thinking we're peaking at the right time. We know this team is just getting better. We figure we have a pretty good shot at it."
The final playdowns beging Friday afternoon, with round-robin play continuing all day Saturday.
If necessary, a playoff for third place will take place at 10 a.m.
Semifinals begin at 12:30 p.m., with the championship final scheduled for 3 p.m. at Delair Park in Abbotsford.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Game #
Time
Visitor
Home
Game 1
4.30PM
#3 Nanaimo Pirates
#2 Victoria Eagles
Game 2
7.00PM
#4 Vancouver Cannons
#1 Abbotsford Cardinals
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Game 3
10.00AM
#4 Vancouver Cannons
#2 Victoria Eagles
Game 4
12.30PM
#4 Vancouver Cannons
#3 Nanaimo Pirates
Game 5
3.00PM
#3 Nanaimo Pirates
#1 Abbotsford Cardinals
Game 6
5.30PM
#2 Victoria Eagles
#1 Abbotsford Cardinals
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Game 7
10.00AM
Play-off to determine 3rd place in RR if necessary
Game 8
12.30PM
Semi Final R2 vs R3 (R1 bye to championship)
Game 9
3.00PM
Final R1 vs Winner Semi-Final
