Never bet against a longshot. In front of an amazed crowd, the hometown boys from Layritz won a 5-4 shocker over heavily favoured White Rock/South Surrey in the semifinals of the 9-10 sa国际传媒 Little League championship on Friday at Layritz Park.
鈥淪tunned is a very good word to describe it,鈥� Layritz manager Dave Potter said, deflecting his team鈥檚 efforts to douse him with Gatorade. 鈥淲e never dreamed we鈥檇 be in the final.
鈥淚t was a massive upset.鈥�
The final, however, is where Layritz will be today, taking on Little Mountain at 1 p.m. for the provincial title. In another nail-biter 鈥� both semifinals were tied going into the sixth inning 鈥� Little Mountain came from behind to edge New Westminster 9-8 in the other semi.
In the final inning of the host team鈥檚 victory, Kevin Sheridan ripped a shot to the fence to lead off the sixth inning, got to third, and Dominic Bodley-Scott went in as a pinch runner. Sliding into home plate on a passed ball, fans and players alike were screaming, as Bodley-Scott scored the winning run.
The Layritz game started off well for the underdogs, when thus far undefeated White Rock went down 1, 2, 3 in the first inning, and Layritz went up 2-0. Starting pitcher Sheridan, who threw 76 pitches in a strong outing, drove in the second run.
Through three innings, Layritz stayed up 2-1, but the defensive wheels fell off in the fourth, and White Rock surged into a 4-3 lead. Sheridan tried to get the team back on track.
鈥淚 said, 鈥楪uys, calm down, pretend it鈥檚 0-0.鈥� 鈥�
Layritz regrouped. A double by Taine Clague had everything locked at 4-4 heading into the final inning, while White Rock struggled at the plate.
鈥淲e just didn鈥檛 hit the ball the way we could,鈥� White Rock assistant coach Ryan Turner said.
In the earlier game, Little Mountain trailed 8-6 going into the final inning.
Manager Blair Shapiro asked his leadoff hitter, Jenmark Ramos: 鈥淒o you believe?鈥� Ramos answered with a big smile, and promptly nailed a triple. Carson Buschman-Dormand brought Ramos home, New West walked in the tying run, and Buschman-Dormand played hero when he slid safely across the plate, as the catcher leaped to grab a high throw from the infield.
