The Prince George 18U Knights put up a convincing argument over the weekend in Kelowna that they’re one of the strongest triple-A baseball teams in the province.
They trounced their opponents by a combined 46-2 in four B.C. Minor Baseball Association league games.
The Knights finished off a perfect weekend Sunday afternoon with an 11-0 six-inning triumph over Chilliwack. Zach Fillion went the distance on the mound for Prince George and put up 11 strikeouts. Riley Zummack’s three-run home run in the fourth inning gave the Knights an 8-0 lead.
In the morning game Sunday, a 12-1 win over Kelowna that ended in five innings, Jacob Ross threw a complete game and James Yandeau went 3-for-3 at the plate with a single, double and hone run.
Jacob Fillion pitched the Knights to an 8-1 victory over Cloverdale Saturday night and Dillon Neufeld was the pitcher of record in the Knights’ 16-0 mercy-rule win over West Kelowna that lasted just three innings.
“Everything went according to plan, we had a goal in mind of going 4-0 and we hit the goal,” said Knights manager Jody Hannon. “Our pitching definitely carried us and on Sunday our bats carried us, as well as our pitching. I can’t say enough about both sides of the ball.
“Honestly, I can’t really single anybody out, everybody stepped up in their own way. I see how well the whole group meshes and how tightly-ran our practices are. It’s similar to college-calibre practice and everybody’s bought in and trusts the program me and my coaching staff (Scott Walters, Tommy Kreitz and Cole Laviolette) have put in. I think spirits are pretty high right now.”
The Knights have another four-game series this weekend in Kelowna which ends their league play. They’ll be in Kamloops July 24-25 for a three-game match against the Kamloops River Dogs college prep team. Last week the Knights hosted the River Dogs at Citizen Field and won two of the three games (4-3 and 5-4) and lost one (4-0).
The Knights are also part of the Domino’s Pizza Prince George Senior Baseball League and will play their second game of a 12-game schedule Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the Queensway Auto World Mariners.
In their first men’s league game of the season last week the Knights lost 13-3 to the Prince George Plumbing & Heating Tigers. The Knights anticipate some of their toughest games this season will be against men’s league opponents.
“The Tigers are pretty strong,” said Hannon. “ They kind of needed a humbling game anyway.
“I credit the men’s league for a lot of our success.”
The Knights will represent the North zone at the B.C. Minor18U championship tournament, Aug. 13-15 in Kelowna. There is no Western Canadian championship due to the late start to the season and the uncertainty of the pandemic.
