The Coquitlam All-Stars will play Hastings in one of two semifinals Saturday at the BC Little League Majors provincial championship, being played at Hillcrest Park in Vancouver. Tournament host Little Mountain will face Dunbar in the other game.
All four teams finished the seven-team championship with four wins and two losses, but the All-Stars were seeded fourth based on their run differential of six. Hastings outscored their opponents by 23.
Coquitlam got back on a winning track Friday after suffering losses in their previous two games. But it took them two extra innings to defeat Vancouver Island’s Layritz, 7-6.
Tai Freeman crossed the plate in the top of the eighth to give Coquitlam the win in a game they had trailed 5-1 in the fourth inning.
In that inning, Coquitlam batted around its lineup and scored three times to reduce their deficit to one, 5-4.
After Piero Leon Carney was able to retire the side in the bottom of the fifth, Coquitlam then tied the game and took a one-run lead by scoring twice in their half of the sixth inning. Both runs came off Matthew Shanley’s seventh homerun of the tournament, tops amongst all batters. He also has the most runs batted in, 15.
But Layritz, who had only one win in preliminary round play, refused to fold, as they scored once more in the bottom of the frame to send the game to extra innings. Neither side scored in the seventh.
After Coquitlam took the lead, Layritz was able to advance a runner to third base in the bottom of the eighth, but relief pitcher Jordan Lisowski was able to strike out the final batter with three straight strikes to preserve the victory.
Coquitlam pitcher Timothy Piasentin, who surrendered just one hit in two innings, was credited with the win. He also hit a homerun in the game’s first inning to stake his side to an early lead.
Three of the All-Stars wins have come on rallies in the final inning.
Coquitlam will play at 3 p.m. on Saturday, at Hillcrest, with the winner earning a spot in Sunday’s final. The winner of that game will advance to the national championships in Ancaster in August.
