They saved their best for last but it wasn't good enough for the Prince George Lomak peewee Knights.
The Knights (1-3) wrapped up the round-robin portion of the 2012 B.C. peewee double-A championship in Chilliwack with a 7-2 loss to the Burnaby Braves (3-2). The loss put an end to the Knights dreams of winning the provincial banner.
Burnaby's stellar pitching limited the Knights to just six hits but the Prince George players were able to cut down on the strikeouts that had hindered them in their first three games of the tournament.
The Braves took a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning where they were able to put the game away with four runs on a string of hits. Prince George scored in the first and seventh innings.
Knights coach Jim Swanson said he was happy with the team's effort against the Braves.
"We stopped making the uncharacteristic mistakes that put us up against the ropes [in] losing the first two games," said Swanson. "Burnaby played a near-perfect game and deserved to win."
Cole Beacom started the game on the mound for the Knights, allowing three hits in three and a one-third innings. Named the Knights' player of the game, Beacom also had three strikeouts before being relieved by Michael Taylor. Nigel Thompson also pitched for Prince George securing the final two outs.
"This is a disappointing result for this group," said Swanson. "We saw a lot of improvement this season and watched them grow up as players."
The coach singled out Dustin Aldana and Taylor for the way they composed themselves during the games in Chilliwack.
"They stood out this weekend and played very well under the pressure that comes with a provincial tournament," said Swanson.
In 29 games this season the Knights finished above .500 with a 15-14 record.
The Abbotsford Angels (4-1) and Kelowna Cubs (5-0) faced off in the gold-medal game with Cubs advancing to the Western Canada Championship in Morden, Man., Aug. 16-20, with a 9-5 win.
