Mosquito AAA Dominates

The Provincials capped off another amazing season for our Mosquito AAA’s. Our boys went undefeated in league play and then undefeated in the Provincial Championships. This capped off an amazing season where they went 22 – 2 with the only two losses coming from the always tough Cloverdale Spurs. However, the season series with the Spurs had our boys winning 3 games to two, and winning the third game when it mattered the most!

The provincials started off with a bang in game one as the always tough Ridge Meadows team took an early lead. But the never say die attitude and mental toughness of our boys helped to claw themselves back in, and we took over the game winning 10-4.

The MVP for game one was Micah Bucknam who put on an all star performance in defensive expertise, with superman like diving catches and non stop grit and determination.

Game two of the provincial’s double header was to the always powerful Victoria Eagles. There is a long standing rivalry with Victoria and our association and our boys never let this game be in doubt. Everyone was firing on all cylinders and our boys made a big statement about who was to be feared in the championships by a dominating 14-3 clubbing of Victoria.

Taking MVP honours in that game was Treyson Smith who was an offensive monster at the plate including a bomb that was hit so far out of the park that the other team got whiplash watching it go away.

Game three was against our dreaded rivals; Cloverdale! At that point we were tied with two wins each in the season series. This game was a see saw battle with neither team giving an inch. We went ahead then they caught up and they went ahead, then we caught up and then our boys put the hammer down and the wall up bringing home a great 6-4 victory and a 3-2 win in the season series.

This game’s MVP was Nicholas Rabinovitch as he went on to the mound with Cloverdale in the lead by one and he pulled off some south paw magic shutting down their powerful offence till halfway through the sixth giving our powerful offence the chance to do what they do best and we went on to win that one 6-4.

Game 4 was against Rutland and although they put on a valiant effort at the start, they were no match for our boys. Our pitching was out-standing and Rutland were never able to mount any kind of effective attack as we went on to win 12-3.

Taking MVP honours in the game was Conner Krahn who was a pitching machine going 73 pitches and never allowing Rutland a chance to be in the game!

The semi finals found our team facing a familiar foe in the Chilliwack Cougars. They were wreaking havoc on the other pool until meeting up with the undefeated powerhouse known as the Angels.

This game started off a bit worrisome with the Cougars jumping out four nothing at the start of the game. But as this mature young group has done time and time again, they set about their work and chipped away at the lead. They took the heart out of the other team’s play with great bats and awesome defence, and went on to a dominating 14-8 win in the semis.

This game’s MVP was Jack Taylor who put on powerhouse pitching performance. When he went on the mound the game still belonged to the Cougars, but after his impressive 72 pitch performance he spurred our boys on to take over the game and shut down any chance of a Cougar attack!

The Gold medal game had a slight feeling of déjà vu as it was a total repeat of last year’s gold medal game:

Abbotsford Vs Ladner.

This game started with Ladner jumping out to a 2 nothing start and shutting down the powerful Abby offence. There were a few worried faces as Ladner was definitely thirsty to make up for last year’s defeat.

However, our boys would have no part of that plan, and they continued on with their own objective. We got our four, then Ladner got one making it a  one point game for most of the remaining game.

Then a couple more timely runs,  and a ton of stellar defence, led to another gutsy win and the incredible Provincial Championship repeat for this impressive young squad!

Winning MVP honours in this game was Aidan Koetsier who played a big part in breaking the hearts of the Ladner team with big hit after big hit including a two run double that was a turning point in the game.

As well as the above noted MVP’s; all of the other boys were MVPs at some part of the championships and throughout the season!  Whether it was Dakota Janzen’s pitching bullets and his excellent batting, Maguire Wakelyn’s wonderful pitching and great defensive plays, Tyson Ashton’s great play in the field non stop base hits, Jack Neill’s great pitching and amazing plays in the field, Cardel Dick’s outstanding back catching and always timely hits, and Joel Robinson’s great catches and excellent pitching arm. They were all a huge part of this team’s success!!

Congratulations to your 2014 Mosquito AAA Champions:

#2 – Tyson Ashton
#3 – Cardel Dick
#4 – Joel Robinson
#7 – Nicholas Rabinovitch
#9 – Maguire Wakelyn
#10 – Aidan Koetsier
#13 – Conner Krahn
#21 – Jack Taylor
#22 – Dakota Janzen
#23 – Treyson Smith
#24 – Micah Bucknam
#71 – Jack Neill
Coaches
Richard Rabinovitch
Darcy Wakelyn
Rob Taylor
Tim Smith

This was, once again, a very tight knit group of boys who figured out what it means to be champions and they did it with a level of sportsmanship and dedication that represents the core values of the AAHA.

I consider it an extreme honour to have been a part of this team, and a part of the success of such an impressive group of young men, dedicated coaches and wonderfully supportive families!!

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our very generous sponsors: Columbia Cabinets and Scotia Bank whose support was instrumental to our team in  its path to gold! I would also like to thank Rob Taylor of Murray GM Abbotsford, Darcy Wakelyn from Wakelyn & Wakelyn Wealth Management at TD and Terry Skipper from Copper River Rods for their very generous donations to the very successful 2014 Mosquito Raffle.

I hope everyone has a safe  and relaxing remainder to their summer as everyone has definitely earned it!!

“Coach Rab”

Contributed by Richard Rabinovitch