Chalk up another incredible accomplishment for the 100 Mile N' Hour U16 fastball team that took home gold for boy's softball at the BC Summer Games on July 24.
A flawless victory over the Fraser River team was the cherry on top of an unbelievable run during the competition in Abbotsford.
“It's exciting that we get another gold after (Surrey Provincials),” says third baseman Spencer Edle.
“We've never done the Summer Games before, so it felt good to win it.”
Going into the games as the Cariboo-North East team, the road to victory certainly wasn't a comfortable one at first.
The team got on the Greyhound bus departing from 100 Mile House at 2:30 a.m. on July 21 and arrived in Abbotsford around 8 a.m. The team had to do several warm-up practices before its first game on July 22 at 11 a.m. against North West.
“I didn't sleep the whole way down,” says catcher Logan Parent.
“I think I was up for 48 hours, but I felt pretty confident since we won [Surrey Provincials on July 3]. As long as we played like we did then, we felt we could win.”
What happened next was the most overwhelming victory of the entire softball tourney with Cariboo-North East decimating North West 16-0.
The devastation continued going into the second game later that day at 3 p.m. against Thompson-Okanagan.
The Cariboo boys barely broke a sweat defeating Thompson-Okanagan 11-3.
Any victory celebration that night was short lived as they were back at it again on July 23 at 8:30 a.m. against Fraser River.
This game proved to be the greatest challenge the Cariboo-North East team faced in the entire tourney.
Fraser River had a strong offence and kept pushing Cariboo-North East to stay one step ahead.
“We always tried to keep a calm mindset,” says Edle.
“If we made an error, we wouldn't let it get us down. We would move on from it.”
While it was a close game between the two, Cariboo-North East eked out an 8-6 victory.
The game against Vancouver-Coastal at 2:30 p.m was another powerhouse win for the Cariboo-North East boys with a 15-5 win.
Less than an hour later, the two teams were at it again in semifinals to determine who would go on to the gold-medal game.
Cariboo-North East defeated Vancouver-Coastal 16-1 and the Cariboo boys had a well deserved rest.
The following morning, the finals were set with Vancouver-Coastal against Thompson-Okanagan for bronze and Cariboo-North East and Fraser River duking it out for gold.
The Cariboo-North East boys brought their A game as they proceeded to own every element of the contest.
The team's offence was strong and its defence was unbreakable.
Trevor McMahon brought in Mitchell Hooper and Parent with a single in the fifth inning to ensure a mercy victory.
Cariboo-North East won gold with a flawless victory over Fraser River 8-0.
“We all worked together, we were strong all the way through our lineup, so it was pretty good,” says shortstop Warren McNabb.
Vancouver-Coastal went on to win bronze.
I'm really proud of these boys, says head coach Reg Hooper.
“They've made big strides this year. Our offence and defence was great."
Despite this victory, the 100 Mile N' Hour U16 team will barely have any time to celebrate before moving on to the next championship tourney.
The team will be heading off to Westerns in Saint Alberts on July 29 to try to achieve a trifecta.
Hooper says he's looking forward to going to the Westerns.
"We placed fourth last time, so we are looking to improve."