The Victoria Mariners fell one win shy of claiming the sa国际传媒 Premier Baseball League crown, losing 10-1 to the Abbotsford Cardinals in Sunday afternoon鈥檚 final at Delair Park.
It was the first league crown for the host Abbotsford team. The bottom seed played giant-slayer over the last two weekends of playoff action, first knocking off the No. 1 seed Langley Blaze in Round 1, then mowing down the competition at the Final 4.
Ethan Ko-McGregor handcuffed the Mariners over six innings of work, allowing just one hit. Reliever Chase Stewart mopped up in the seventh inning.
Victoria had taken a 1-0 lead in the second inning, only to give up four runs in the third, one in the fourth, four in the fifth and a final run in the bottom of the sixth. The Mariners鈥� bats never became untracked.
Victoria defeated the Okanagan Athletics 6-1 in the semifinal on Sunday morning, thanks to a complete-game, six-hit performance from pitcher Duncan Brens-Knight. Dawson Neal, Nick Seginowich and Chris Niketas each had RBI singles in that Mariners鈥� win.
The only two losses the Mariners recorded at the Final 4 provincial championship were both to Abbotsford, including a 1-0 decision in Saturday鈥檚 round-robin game. The Cardinals lost just once, 2-0 to the North Shore Twins on Friday. They had the benefit of advancing straight to the final while Victoria played the extra semifinal game Sunday morning.
The loss capped a strong season for the Mariners, who were 30-14 in the regular season and 5-2 in post-season play. The Cardinals were also 5-2 in the post-season.
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