There are seven innings in a bantam A baseball game and the Port Coquitlam Cardinals made sure to use every single one of them on their way to the provincial championship title last week in Chilliwack.
Down four runs in the sixth inning of the finals against the Burnaby Braves, Cards fans could be forgiven for thinking the game was over.
PoCo batter Evan Callow had other ideas.
With two outs and runners on first and second, Burnaby walked Lyle Taylor, D.J. Marques and Connor Strongman to push in a run and load up the bases.
That’s when Callow pounded in a base-clearing triple to tie up the game at 7-7, leaving Jacob Anelozzi to bat in the game-winning run.
It was not the Cards’ first come-from-behind victory during the provincial tournament.
In the semifinals against Victoria, PoCo trailed 4-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
However, Marcus Grzac placed a perfect bunt before Taylor drilled a two-run homer to tie the game. Marques later smacked a triple and was driven home by Strongman to complete the 5-4 comeback.
The gold medal win capped a 6-0 tournament for the Cards, who defeated Vancouver, Campbell River, Mission and Kamloops on their way to the championship game. They entered the provincials with a strong 25-2 regular season.
The lineup also includes Nicholas Yu, Blake Shular, Kobe Sam, Matthew Frers, Kerry An, Nick Lindholm and Bryn Tomlins and is coached by Wing Yu, Mike Bird, Chris Strongman and Mike Sam.
@TriCityNews
