The sa国际传媒 Premier Baseball League is down to the Final Four and local fans are in for what should be a good pitching duel Friday at 5:30 p.m. with an all-Island battle.
The Victoria Eagles will send their ace Ethan Skuija to the mound and the Nanaimo Pirates are expected to counter with their star, Josh Burgmann, a member of the national junior team.
The North Shore Twins and Okanagan Athletics round out the field as the four play a round-robin at Royal Athletic Park with the No. 1 team advancing straight to Sunday鈥檚 12:30 p.m. final. The second- and third-place teams will meet in the semifinal on Sunday at 10 a.m.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be a nice opener,鈥� Eagles manager Anthony Pluta said of facing Nanaimo. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a very strong team. Now that they have Burgmann back with [Garrett] Goodall and all their hitters, it should be an interesting Final Four.
鈥淚 would assume that Nanaimo would throw Burgmann Game 1, but Skuija is definitely pitching for us. Ace vs. ace 鈥� I鈥檓 expecting a low-scoring game.鈥�
The two teams split four games this season with Skuija helping the Eagles win Game 1 of the regular season 20-8. Goodall came back to toss a four-hitter in Game 2 for a one-run win.
鈥淚鈥檓 really looking forward to it and hopefully we can bring home a championship, like we did two years ago. I鈥檓 looking forward to starting Game 1,鈥� said Skuija, one of three players 鈥� along with Adam Bontkes and Ben Goertzen 鈥� from that 2013 championship club. Skuija pitched the final in 2013.
鈥淚t was my first year in the PBL. I threw six innings that day,鈥� he said, recalling the 3-2 victory over Nanaimo in which the Eagles scored once in the sixth and twice in the seventh.
Friday鈥檚 matchup should be a battle again.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to take some good control,鈥� said Skuija. 鈥淎gainst Josh, it鈥檚 going to be a good battle. He鈥檚 always working hard and throwing hard. I have to match him and hopefully the team has our bats going. We鈥檒l see what we can get done.鈥�
A victory would go a long way toward a semifinal berth.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to take consistency,鈥� said Pluta. 鈥淚f you make a mistake against any of these teams 鈥� who are all very good 鈥� they will capitalize on mistakes. You make a mistake and it can turn into four runs.鈥�
But he firmly believes he has the club capable of a second title in three seasons.
鈥淚 do. I think we have come a long way,鈥� said Pluta. 鈥淲e have the team to do it. We have the pitching depth with a lot of arms that can get us through. I think that will be the key. There are a lot of good players, but it鈥檚 the pitchers that will carry teams through the Final Four.鈥�
Fynn Chester, second in the league with nine wins and fifth in earned-run average at 1.71, will throw Game 2 for the Eagles, with Martin Eckard on the mound for Game 3. Pluta will likely go to Bontkes or Karsten Waters in Game 4.
Nanaimo鈥檚 Zach Diewart led the league in RBIs with 40, ahead of the Eagles鈥� Tanner Hess with 37. Pirates teammates Cole Warken and Matt Skingle were No. 3 and 4, respectively, with 35 and 34.
Warken was also No. 4 in batting average at .383, while Tyler Duncan of the Eagles was sixth at .371, just ahead of Nanaimo鈥檚 Shawn Arabsky at .370, so there should be plenty of offence as well.
鈥淚鈥檓 really confident we鈥檙e going to perform well, do well as a team and I think we鈥檙e going to bring home a championship,鈥� said Skuija, 18, who will attend UBC next year with plans of getting into the engineering program.
The tournament begins Friday at 2:30 p.m. with Okanagan versus North Shore, followed by opening ceremonies at 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, it鈥檚 Nanaimo vs. Okanagan at 10 a.m. and Nanaimo vs. North Shore at 12:30 p.m. The Eagles will then play two straight at 3 p.m. vs. North Shore and 5:30 p.m. against Okanagan. Should a tiebreaker be required, it would go at 8 p.m.
