The Coquitlam Redlegs bowed out in the semifinals of the B.C. Junior Premier Baseball League semifinals.
The Redlegs fell 11-2 to the Langley Jr. Blaze in Sunday's semifinal.
"We lost 11-2 but it was not an 11-2 game," said manager Bill Green. "It was a close game all the way to the fifth inning. It was 3-2 at that time. We had chances all over the place but couldn't get any clutch hits which has basically been our downfall most of the year."
Coquitlam opened the tournament with a 2-1 loss to the Abbotsford Jr. Cardinals.
"We were leading 1-0 virtually the whole game until they scored two on us in the bottom of the seventh. We just didn't get any offence going," said Green. "Jaydon White threw a great game and he was also our top hitter as the tournament went on."
White stuck out six, while going 2-for-3 at the plate. Zac Comeault also went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
The Redlegs then downed the eventual champion North Shore Jr. Twins 12-2 in their second game. Drew Horton gave up just six hits while White went 4-for-5 at the plate.
"They're the best team in the league all year and we just thumped them all the way," said Green. "Drew Horton threw a great game for us, kept them off pace and they didn't get anything at all until late in the game they got a couple of meaningless runs."
Coquitlam completed the round robin with a 6-5 win over the Okanagan Jr. Athletics. The A's knocked out starter Josh Mickelson in the first and Kole Benard came in to pitch seven full innings in relief, striking out nine and giving up only three hits. Evan Soutar and Trevor McKee were both 2-for-4 with an RBI while Austen Butler went 2-for-3.
"Langley and North Shore were a cut above the rest of the teams in the league with their talent and we should have been best of the rest," said Green, who is expecting about half of this year's lineup to move up to the Coquitlam Reds next season. "We finished in the final four for the second year in a row, so it was a plus season, not great."
