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Ridge Meadows host bantam baseball provincials

Radke recruited by B.C. champs for nationals
Neil Corbett
Neil Corbett
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Pierce Radke, one of the top players for the Ridge Meadows Royals, has been picked up by the B.C. champs to play in the 15U nationals. (Neil Corbett/THE NEWS)

Ridge Meadows Minor Baseball hosted the provincial championships for Bantam 15U teams over the weekend, and at least one Royals player will be going to nationals.

The Ridge team finished the tournament with a win and two losses, and came close to advancing to the playoff round.

The event was ultimately won by the Delta Tigers, and they picked up Ridge Meadows standout starting pitcher Pierce Radke for the U15 nationals. He is one of three B.C. players they picked up for their nationals roster, and is headed to London, Ontario with his adopted team.

Head coach Jason Boldt said the Royals were in the mix, in a closely contested dozen-team tournament.

“It was a 12 good, competitive teams,” he said.

They started with a 3-0 loss to the Fraser Valley Cardinals, in a tight game that was scoreless through the first five innings.

In their second game they beat the Victoria Eagles 3-1 as Radke pitched a gem.

The Royals could have advanced if they had managed a win on Saturday, but they fell 6-4 to the North Shore Twins. The Royals jumped out to a 3-0 lead, thanks to a home run by Dylan McCuaig, but couldn’t hang on. Ridge had tying runs on second and third bases, but couldn’t cash them.

Jackson Buchan was the player of the game for Ridge in the first game, Radke in the second, and pitcher Chris Gibson in the third.

Boldt, who is in his third year as a head coach in the association, is moving on to coach with the Coquitlam Reds junior program next season.

Boldt was chosen as the bantam coach of the year for BC Minor Baseball in 2018.

• In other news, Mack Whitford, head coach of the Royals college prep team, is leaving after this season. With a newborn in his family, the under-18 BC Minor Baseball coach of the year is going to take a year off. This year, his team went 42-32-1 overall. He will be replaced by Jeff Scott.

 


ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
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Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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