The Chemainus & District Baseball Association hosted its annual U11 Hop Wo Invitational and U18 invitational tournaments over the weekend.
The Larry Hop Wo tournament, which ran May 31 to June 2, has a long-standing tradition and featured 12 teams playing on three fields while the U18 event featured six teams, with games at the Larry Irving Field in Chemainus and some in Ladysmith.
Chemainus & District Baseball Association president Jon Aaron Hop Wo said the association expanded its entrants to eight teams from six, having, Friday night’s games spread across four communities: Parksville Qualicum Beach, Ladysmith, Duncan and Chemainus. On Saturday, the teams battled it out between Ladysmith and Chemainus parks.
This year, there was increased intrest from the south Island, with entrants from Gordon Head and Triangle.
The top four teams were: Chemainus, coached by Braedyn Billwiller in his debut coaching career; Triangle 1, coached by Darren MacDonald; Triangle 2, coached by Max Battle and Max Thompson, both in their debut coaching careers; and Ladysmith, coached by Shawn Freer and Rob Christenson.
Hop Wo said the semifinal was a hard-fought game by Chemainus with their best efforts, but couldn’t get their bats going, having Triangle 2 take the win with a score of 8-1.
The final between Ladysmith and Triangle 3 was a wet one.
“As we all know how hard it is to play in the rain, both teams gave it their all. Ladysmith’s starting pitcher Noah Atkinson was too much fire power for Triangle 3, thus resulting in a mercy after the 5th inning, 11-1.
It was Ladysmith’s third-straight win for the Chemainus & District Baseball Association U18 tournament.
The U11 final had to be pushed to a later date, as the rain didn’t hold off as hoped.
Vying for third place is the Triangle Grapples and the Triangle Harbour Kitties. The championship game will be between Nanaimo Pirates and Victoria National Little League.
Both have yet to be determined dates.