Prince George’s triple-A baseball rating has never been higher.
South of the border, infielder/outfielder Jared Young, who learned the game playing ball for the Prince George Knights, was called up on Monday to the triple-A Iowa Cubs and is now just one step down from the major leagues.
This weekend in Ridge Meadows, the Prince George 18-and-under Knights are trying to bring home what would be the city’s first triple-A provincial championship and they’re off to a 3-0 start at the five-team B.C. Minor Baseball Association tournament.
The Knights reeled off their third straight win Saturday afternoon, defeating the host Ridge Meadows Royals 8-2, backed by solid pitching frm Chase Martin, Logan Dreher and Parker McBurnie.
The Knights opened Friday morning with a 7-4 win over the Cloverdale Spurs. Zach Fillion, Jacob Fillion and Logan Dreher combined to pitch the Knights to victory. Parker McBurnie, Tyson Ramsay and Preston Weightman each delivered multi-hit games.
Friday afternoon, the Knights edged the Richmond Chuckers 2-1. Jacob Ross went 4 2/3 innings and held the Chuckers in a dominant outing and Weightman came in and pitched the rest of the game, allowing one run. Chase Martin scored both Knights runs. McBurnie’s single in the first inning scored Martin, who had stolen third base, and he scored the second run on a fifth-inning, bases-loaded walk.
“We haven’t really played up to what our expectations are, we haven’t hit the ball very well, but we’ve been OK and I know we can play better,” said Knights head coach Jody Hannon.
“(Against Richmond) we had a good first inning and were hitting the ball but then we just kind of went to sleep. Jacob Ross and Preston Weightman pitcher their way to the win and our defence definitely stole that one for us. Our entire pitching staff has been solid for us.”
The Knights are back on the field tonight at 6 p.m. to face the undefeated North Island Cubs. The Cubs improved to 3--0 after defeating Richmond 5-4 Saturday afternoon.
Semifinals will be played Sunday at 9 and 11 a.m., followed by the final at 3 p.m.
Prince George has 13 healthy players available this weekend. They lost James Yandeau, their top relief pitcher and one of their better hitters, when he fell at home on some stairs Monday and broke his hand. Knights’ outfielder Brody LaFavor was also lost for the season with a broken forearm after he was hit by a pitch in a men’s league game about a month ago.
The Knights went 8-0 in provincial league play this year and their two wins Friday improved their season record to 20-2. They tuned up for the provincial tournament, July 22-24 in Kamloops, where they won all three games against the Kamloops River Dogs college prep team. The Knights also played the River Dogs in a three-game series earlier in July and won two of three at Citizen Field.
Their only other loss has been in the Prince George Senior Men’s Baseball League in their season-opener July 8 when they dropped a 13-3 decision to the Prince George Plumbing and Heating Tigers. The Knights have won seven straight since then and lead the men’s league with a 7-1 record.
YOUNG ON THE ROAD IN NEBRASKA
Young is the first Prince George minor baseball product ever to play professional baseball at the double-A or triple-A level, having started the season with the double-A Tennessee Smokies. He joined his Iowa teammates in the road in Omaha, Neb., where they are playing a six-game Triple-A East series this week against the Storm Chasers. In the starting lineup for the first time on Wednesday, as the Cubs designated hitter, the 26-year-old Young led off the second inning with a double, his first career hit at the triple-A level, and the Cubs went on to a 12-7 victory. On Thursday, playing third base, Young delivered a lead-off single in the second inning and finished 1-for-4 at the plate in what ended up a 2-1 loss to Omaha.
