In 12 innings of work, they struck out 27 batters and gave up just three hits. The impressive arm work of Bryan Allbee, Bailey Mcfaul and Dakota Curry was a major factor in landing the Pacific Western Helicopters bantam Knights in the provincial championship tournament.
Tuesday night at Rotary Field, with a spot in provincials the prize, the Knights swept past the Quesnel All-Stars in a best-of-three zone showdown. The 13- and 14-year-old Knights -- a rep team from the Prince George Youth Baseball Association -- won the first game 16-7 and locked up a berth in the BC tournament with a 14-0 victory in the second game.
In the opener, Allbee fanned 12 Quesnel batters and allowed just one hit in five innings of duty. In two innings of relief, Mcfaul chalked up four strikeouts and surrendered two hits.
In the capper, cut to five innings by the mercy rule, Curry tossed a no-hitter and finished with 11 strikeouts. Along the way, the six-foot-one lefty issued only two walks.
Knights manager Gary Allbee was a relaxed guy most of the night, knowing that his pitchers had their grade-A stuff. His only jump in blood pressure was caused by a troublesome fifth inning in Game 1. In the top of that inning, Quesnel took advantage of a couple of walks, a hit batsman and some general nervousness on the part of the Knights and scored five runs.
"Other than the fifth inning, Bryan's fastball and curveball were both working quite well," Gary Allbee said. "Dakota mostly had his fastball going. His curve was in there a little bit but wasn't as good as his fastball. They were having trouble catching his fastball and he had very good control."
After Quesnel's big inning in the first game, the visitors were ahead 7-4. But, the Knights were able to regain their composure and answered back with six runs in the bottom of the fifth and scored six more times in the bottom of the sixth.
"I think they were a little tight for the first few innings, knowing what was on the line," Gary Allbee said of his players. "I heard a couple of them make comments that these were the first all-star games they had played in town, this group, ever. They've always been out of town. So I think they were a little nervous with lots of people there."
In the first game, Bryan Allbee also went 3-for-3 at the plate, including an inside-the-park home run. Teammate Dylan Lukinchuk went 2-for-2.
In the clincher, Craig Budskin and Myles Kazakoff were the offensive catalysts for the Knights. Both were 2-for-2 with the bat in their hands.
In preparation for the bantam single-A provincials, the Knights will now practice for the next couple weeks. The 10-team BC tournament will be held in Kamloops and will start on Aug. 2.
"I think we're going to be right in the mix," said Gary Allbee, whose club romped to the title at a single-A tournament in Pitt Meadows earlier this month. "There are things we're going to have to work on in the next two weeks as far as tightening up defensively and I think we'll be right in there."
