Team has top record in BCJPBL heading into final weeks of season
Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart
August 15, 2021, Victoria, BC – The Junior Premier Coquitlam Reds continue to find ways to win baseball games.
In Victoria on the weekend, they scored runs in the 5th, 6th or 7th inning of each of their four games to come away with a weekend sweep of both the Victoria Mariners and Victoria Eagles on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
On Saturday against the Mariners, a three-run 5th inning was the difference in a tight, come from behind 5-4 win, and a three-run 6th in game two, was the key difference in another tight 4-3 win, with the Reds pulling off a game-ending double play to end what looked to be a late Mariners comeback.
Against the Eagles on Sunday, a five-run 5th inning erased a 3-1 deficit and another six runs in the top of the 7th put away the 12-3 win, and in game two, trailing 2-0 after four, the Reds scored two in the 5th and one in the 6th to hang on to yet another close 3-2 win.
The four wins runs the Reds winning streak to 10 games and their overall record to 20-6. After a slow start with just two wins and a tie in their first eight games, all against Whalley, they have gone 18-2 and now sit top spot at the moment in the BCJPBL regular season standings, just above the 21-11 UBC Thunder, although the scores of the Thunder’s Sunday’s games were not yet available.
Those two teams will meet in a scheduled double-header on Saturday the 21st at Mundy Park in Coquitlam and then the Reds will close out the season with a pair against the Mariners, again at home at Mundy Park.
The Reds will hope to continue their strong play and at this point, should be a favourite in the 2021 BCJPBL playoffs. In those playoffs, which involve all teams in the league, the Reds will host one of three separate playoff pools and will face the Abbotsford Cardinals, the North Delta Blue Jays and the Mid-Island Pirates in the four team round robin on Friday and Saturday August 27th and 28th.
The winner of that round robin will advance to the semi-finals that will take place, along with the Championship Game, on Sunday August 29th in Whalley.
The Reds should have tons of confidence as they have swept all four games they have played against the Cardinals, and the two against Pirates, but they have not had a chance to play Blue Jays due to rain outs and scheduling issues.
The Reds success in the playoffs could come down to their starting pitching and their defense, both of which were on full display on the weekend.
In three of their four games their starters went the distance to get the wins, with Jacob Hageman and Tyer Yeeloy getting the wins in the games against the Mariners and Sarah Pengelly getting the win in game one against the Eagles.
In game two Sunday, Tryston Hickson would get the win, going five strong innings, with two innings of no-hit relief from Anthony Picillo. Their defence was also solid all weekend with just a pair of errors in total in all four games.
Their offence seems to be no slouch either. In the two wins against the Mariners, the Reds racked up 16 hits in total and then used 11 hits to power their way to the 12-3 win against the Eagles. They ran out of gas a little in game two Sunday, only getting four, but thanks to a defence that turned a pair of double-plays, still came away with the win.
Of note for the Reds Sunday was Tyler Yeeloy, who had two doubles, a walk and three RBI and a pair of runs scored in the 12-3 win over the Eagles and then followed that up in game two with another hit and a run scored.
Mason Lemmen and Brendan Tong also had strong games in game one with a pair of hits each, with Tong adding a double and pair of RBI. Lemmen also had three hits against the Mariners on Saturday.
The Reds final four games, Saturday against the Thunder and Sunday against the Mariners, all take place at Mundy Park in Coquitlam. Start time for both double-headers is 11:00 am.
The Reds first playoff game is scheduled for 7:00 pm on Friday August 27th at Munday Park, against the Cardinals. They then face the Blue Jays on Saturday at 9:30 am and the Pirates at 6:30pm.
The full set of photos from the Red and Eagles game Sunday, by photographer Christian J. Stewart will be available at https://christianjstewart.zenfolio.com/p734322662
