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They say that revenge is a dish best served cold, but the Beacon Hill 11/12 major boy鈥檚 baseball team will be more than hot to trot to dish it back to Layritz at the District 7 Little League championship.
The two will meet today at 1 p.m. at Layritz diamonds to determine the 2015 champion, which will then advance to provincials at South Vancouver Central.
Layritz handled three-time defending champion Beacon Hill 7-4 in the round-robin on Monday.
On Saturday afternoon, Beacon Hill peppered Lake Hill 15-2 in one semi-final while Layritz blanked Hampton 10-0 in the other to set up the rematch.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always that revenge factor, right. Whenever you beat a team you know they鈥檙e going to be really fired up to come and get you, so you have to be prepared to match that intensity, if not beat it,鈥� Layritz manager Dave Potter said.
鈥淲e hit really well against Beacon Hill in that game. Our hitting was more clutch than their hitting was, but it was only one game. It鈥檚 not the one you want to win. The one you want to win is Sunday.鈥�
Beacon Hill manager Thor Wishart echoed that statement.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking forward to it. Layritz is a strong team and we expect a good match in the final. Layritz鈥檚 bats were hot, they pitched really well,鈥� Wishart said of his team鈥檚 only tournament loss.
Layritz, meanwhile, went through the six-team event undefeated.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e sound on defence and sound at the plate,鈥� Wishart said. 鈥淲e have to hit better. No doubt about it. Our guys did not hit well against Layritz, but I鈥檓 not worried about it.
鈥淲e鈥檝e practised hard and the kids have looked sharp and strong and I believe we鈥檒l be able to come out and hit well [today].鈥�
Beacon Hill got its licks in during the semi-final, getting out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning on Lake Hill, which got one back in the bottom half on Dave Jung鈥檚 first of two solo home runs.
Beacon Hill left-fielder Nic Beatty cracked a three-run shot in a seven-run second inning as the lead jumped to 10-1. Soren Wishart then crushed his own two-run homer in the third for a 12-1 advantage.
Jung swatted his second homer in the bottom half to bring Lake Hill within 10 before Beacon Hill added three runs in the fourth. Reliever James McGhie closed it out on the mound for the victors after Soren Wishart had replaced starting pitcher Quinton Horvath.
Pitcher Brandon Turnbull had started for Lake Hill and was replaced by Ryan Miller and then Jung, which leads us to today.
鈥淭o me there鈥檚 pressure on both teams, but they won that first game so I believe the pressure is on them,鈥� manager Wishart said of Layritz.
鈥淚 just hope our guys go out and have fun and do what they do, and I hope a lot of people come out to watch it.鈥�
鈥淭hey are definitely the favourite,鈥� Potter said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e won it three times in a row and they have eight guys back from the team that won it last year. So until someone beats them, they are the favourites.
鈥淚t should be a good one. They have a good fan base and we have a good fan base, so hopefully they come out and we give them a good ride.鈥�
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