John Main Tournament Champions

The Abbotsford Black Angels captured the prestigious Peewee AA John Main Tournament on the weekend.  16 teams from all over BC came to Ladner and Tsawwassen to compete in this tournament.

Abbotsford opened the tournament on Thursday with a 16-0 romp over Tswwassen. Luke Szmutko, Dayton Peters and Kevin Kim all homered, while Chris Pidlesecky was named game MVP.

The tourney resumed Saturday with an early morning tilt with Vernon.  The Angels delivered a convincing win behind some solid pitching from Kevin Kim, and Abby Red pickups Conall Sexton and Tyler Nelson.  Tyler was named Game MVP with a combination of strong pitching and fine hitting.

In the afternoon game, Abbotsford took on an overmatched team from Oceanside.  The hits came early and often, highlighted by 2 homeruns from Luke Szmutko, including a Grand Slam.  After that performance, Luke was shockingly named Game MVP.

On Sunday, the top team from each of the four pools met in the playoffs.  Abby faced Chilliwack in the Semifinal.  Highlights from this emotional game included a three-run homer from Conall Sexton, who also closed the game with 5 Ks in two innings on the mound to earn Game MVP.

In the Tournament Final, Abbotsford faced their old rival, Cloverdale.  Carlin Dick’s excellent pitching got the Angels off to a terrific start.  The Abbotsford bats also contributed, and heading into the later innings Abbotsford held the lead.  However, things went south in a hurry, as one disastrous inning led to Cloverdale tying the game and forcing extra-innings. In a sequence that wasn’t the prototypical “Hollywood ending”, Dayton Peters would score the winning run on a passed ball after a strike-out on his his team-mate.  Riley Hall was named Game MVP after some big hits and a game-saving catch in the extra inning.

In the end, the Abbotsford boys collected the prestigious John Main trophy, while Luke Szmutko’s amazing power at the plate earned him Tournament MVP Honours.