One more win would have landed them in the medal round.
Unfortunately for the Prince George Timberwolves squirt boys fastball team, a victory wasn't to be. Sunday in Port Alberni, the Timberwolves couldn't coax their bats to life in the all-important game and lost 15-9 to the host team in the provincial B and C championship tournament.
The 12-and-under T-wolves, under the direction of head coach Bill Ollinger, finished the event with a 2-5 record and placed fourth out of five teams in the C division.
"Having only three returning players [from last season], the team did very well," Ollinger said. "At times it was very frustrating but at other times there were those 'eureka' moments that players achieve, where they got it. They all should be very proud of themselves. They represented Prince George very well and they played very hard."
The Timberwolves, sponsored by Houle Electric and 5th & Carney Subaru, lost their opening game 6-5 to Sooke. Next came a 25-13 win against Port Alberni -- a game in which T-wolves pitcher Cody Boulding threw all six innings -- and a 15-8 setback against Richmond. The Timberwolves then lost 15-9 to Fleetwood to close out their preliminary schedule.
In the double knockout playoffs, the P.G. boys again clashed with Fleetwood and, this time, dropped a 6-5 heartbreaker. The Timberwolves stayed alive with a gutsy effort against Whalley, a game they won 7-6 in eight innings. But, the subsequent loss to Port Alberni ended their weekend.
For the T-wolves, the highlight of the tournament was the extra-inning decision against Whalley.
"It was really close," Ollinger said. "It went back and forth -- they'd tie it up, we'd tie it up, they'd tie it up. But we had three key hits from Branden Edwards, Levi Price and Spencer Schouwenberg. Spencer got the winning hit to send us on to the next game against Alberni Valley."
The T-wolves' lineup is rounded out by Zack Edwards, Garrett Scott, Graham Walkey, Andrew Bachand, Josh Price, Dean Florell, Logan Seager, Bryan Allen and Gabe Edwards. Assistant coaches are Blair Walkey and Tarissa Boulding, while Shannon Wagner serves as the team manager.
For Ollinger, Sunday's game against Port Alberni was his last as a coach at the squirt level, an age group he has instructed for the past 14 years. But, he's not ready to hang up his cap just yet. This weekend, he'll be in Cloverdale with the peewee Timberwolves, helping out head coach Dean Tarasoff at that provincial championship tournament.
-- The Prince George bantam Timberwolves finished fourth at their provincial tournament, played in Surrey on the weekend.
