Clearwater Minor Ball’s Peewee team, the Crushers, got squeezed out of first place in the provincial championships the July 22-24 weekend in Cloverdale.
Clearwater went into the tournament as the favorites, and came out of the round robin in first place.
The local squad had defeated Sooke, the eventual winners, during the round robin but lost to them in a semi-final. The Crushers had another chance against Sooke in the final but were unable to pull off the win.
“The boys played hard and worked well together. The team represented our area well, showing good sportsmanship towards each other and all of the other ball players,” said one of the ball player’s parents.
Barriere’s Jordan Lefeuvre pitched for the team and was chosen MVP in its first game against the Prince George Timber Wolves.
On Sunday, the boys played grueling back-to-back games, putting them into the final round. They won game one against Fleetwood, lost game two against Sooke, but made their comeback and won their last game against Prince George 8 - 7.
This streak put the team into the final game playing Sooke yet again, for first and second place. Unfortunately, exhaustion led them to a 12 - 2 loss.
The Clearwater Crushers played some high caliber ball during the championships and proudly brought home silver medals as well as 2011 provincial backpacks.