Even the rain did little to dampen a successful opening weekend for the BID Group Grays.
The Grays, the local senior men's all-star baseball team, pounded out a pair of convincing wins at the Twin Cities Invitational tournament in Maple Ridge before they lost a one-run game that was shortened by soggy weather and darkness. A fourth scheduled game was rained out altogether.
The two Grays victories -- 9-0 over Gibsons and 7-3 against the Langley Knights -- came on a sunny Saturday. On Sunday, the rain fell all day long and caused several delays. The Grays and Maple Ridge Jerks played the last game of the day and it was called after five innings, with the Jerks ahead 7-6.
The Grays were supposed to face the Ridge Meadows Twins on Monday but the weather didn't cooperate.
In the win against a relatively weak Gibsons team, Grays starting pitcher Jon Bourassa fanned 11 batters in four innings of work and was credited with the victory. Offensively, Brandon Hunter ripped a three-run home run.
Later in the day, the Knights were kept quiet by Grays starter Jesse Dill. He threw six innings and had Langley batters guessing the whole time.
"He pitched really well," said Grays player/coach Jay Cook said. "We were short an arm that day so he ate up a couple extra innings and battled for us. It was a gutsy effort from him. He got ahead a lot -- threw a lot of first-pitch strikes -- and then went to his game, which is location and pitch selection. He kept guys off balance and changed speeds well."
In the loss to the Jerks, the Grays were ahead by five runs in the first inning but saw their opponent chip away at the lead. In what turned out to be the final inning, the Jerks -- champions of the Lower Mainland Baseball Association last season -- scored twice and escaped with the victory.
