Game 8 (Playoff #1): Hastings vs White Rock

Well today’s the day. It’s actually very nerve-racking being a spectator, especially when you’ve been paying attention to the hard work both teams have been showing. White Rock is still undefeated, and Hastings has lost twice. The weather is still crazy at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day. I have found somewhat of a shady spot in the stands, after discovering 8 mosquito bites from sitting in the shade. I actually miss Vancouver rain…well, not really. :P
Wendell (Keenan’s dad) has noticed that White Rock would try to make an impression on the Hastings All-Stars during their infield warm-up, then quickly leave the diamond and dugout to avoid watching us. Today, Hastings practiced hard and left for behind the dugout. He enjoyed seeing Hastings show the same respect to White Rock.
For those who don’t really know, this game is first place vs second place. The winner advances to the final game, and the loser plays the winner of the third vs fourth game. Well this could be the beginning of the end, or the beginning of the beginning…it’s all up to fate (for those who believe in it), hard work, the umpires, strategy etc. Let’s have faith that all of those are in our favour. Here we go!



It’s the top of the 1st inning, and Taylor is up to bat. For some reason, we are Visitors again. Taylor starts off the game with a double, and the Hastings spectators are cheering the loudest I have heard so far in this tournament. Ryan gets the first out by a throw to first base. Robbey then gets intentionally walked to get a man on first and second. A nice hit by Anthony down the third base line brings Taylor home. Josh is up next with Robbey and Anthony on second and third. Josh gets out by a catch from the White Rock first baseman. An out at first is the last out, so a run in from Robbey doesn’t count.

The bottom of the 1st inning begins with Keenan pitching well, and the score 1-0. A good hit from White Rock gets him to first base. Keenan strikes out White Rock for the first out. A play at second by Ryan gets the second out on a base hit from WR. (WR= White Rock) Keenan strikes out the last WR player for the last out. Keenan ends the inning with 15 pitches.




It’s the top of 2 and Christian starts off with a strikeout for the first out. Shota is up next, and after two fouls he hits the ball straight to the third baseman who then loosely throws it to first for the second out. Three strikes to Ian brings us to the bottom of the 2nd.

The bottom of the 2nd starts off with the “homerun hitter” up to bat, but Keenan keeps his game face on. WR gets a double on a hit to the fence. A base hit from WR brings a player to first, and Hastings gets the first batter on base out at third for the first out. Waterman from the White Rock team is up next, I only remember him because he always jumps twice before stepping into the batters box. A bad hop at second allows WR to get on first and third. A hit from WR ties up the score, and Ryan gets a guy out at second for the 2nd out, but gets injured as well. Next, a base hit advances WR to 3rd, and they are now at the top of their batting order. A pop fly to Ian cancels out a run from WR and it’s now the next inning.



The top of the 3rd inning starts off with the top of our batting order, Taylor, but he soon strikes out against the tough WR pitcher. Ryan strikes out for the second out. There is a pitching change right before Robbey bats, and a meeting and a warm-up from WR which delays the game a short while. Hastings hasn’t stopped cheering since the game began. Robbey gets a base on balls, which brings Anthony up next. Robbey then steals second and Anthony strikes out for the 3rd out.

It’s now the bottom of the 3rd at 3:56 pm, and I’m afraid the heat is going to melt my laptop. Keenan strikes out WR for the 1st out. It’s a base on balls for WR, and he steals second. A pop fly caught by Shota gets the 2nd out. A great double down the 1st baseline brings in a run for WR. The score is now 2-1, and Keenan strikes out the last batter.

It’s the top of the 4th inning, and the dedicated fans re-apply sunscreen and wipe the sweat off their faces while sitting in the bleachers. Josh gets a base hit to start it off, and Keenan strikes out after for the first out. Katie gets a base hit to right field to get on second, and Josh gets out by a hot box. An incredible hit to the outfield by Shota advancing him to third brings in Katie to tie up the score. Tama (Shota’s mom) shows her enthusiasm by screaming “Yeah Shota!! He’s my son!!”. Another great base hit by Taz brings Shota home to bring the score to 3-2. Taylor advances Taz to second with a base hit. A nice hit by Scott is unfortunately caught by short stop for the last out.




The bottom of the 4th inning brings in Anthony for an injured Ryan. A failed catch at second base brings WR to first base, and a good play gets a batter out at first. At this point there are two outs. Keenan is pitches well and ends the inning with no runs on no hits for WR.

It’s now the top of the 5th, and the onions are beginning to smell really good. It’s a perfect summer day, and the music here at Joe Martin field is just the thing everyone needs. Robbey pops up to right field for the first out, and a pop fly catch in the outfield gets Anthony out as well. Another fast-reflexes catch by WR ends the inning.

In the bottom of the 5th, Keenan continues to pitch amazingly, and he is well past 60. Vito now brings in Anthony for Keenan after one of his best games. Anthony’s mom, Theresa created a noise maker out of a coin and a water bottle, and now the Hastings spectators have another tool for making sound. Anthony starts off with great pitching, but a WR batter has just got a double. WR has just got a base hit, and there is a man on 3rd and 1st. A hit to a WR batter has just loaded the bases. There is one out. A steal to home from WR has now tied up the score to 3-3. Oh crap. The WR batter has just gotten an out of the park home run to bring the score to 6-3, and there is now two outs. A discouraged Anthony is now being talked to by Vito, and he brings in Ryan for pitcher. WR has just got a double, and a pop fly catch by Taylor ends the inning.

The top of the 6th brings Keenan up to bat, and a new pitcher for WR. I have now put on my rally hat. It’s a walk for Keenan to start off the inning, and he quickly steals second. Christian strikes out for the first out, and the pitcher hits Shota for a walk. There is now a man on 1st and 2nd. Ian walks to make the bases loaded. WR now decides to change their pitcher, and there is a slight pause in the game for the new pitcher to warm-up. Taylor is now up to bat, and a short hit from him brings in a run to make the score 6-4. A base hit from Ryan brings in another run and another out. The score is 6-5 with Robbey up to bat. He gets a base on balls after a nerve-racking full count. The bases are loaded… and Katie slides home to tie the score!!!! Anthony strikes out to bring it to the bottom of the 6th.



I can’t breathe here in the bottom of the 6th, and a freaky 6-6-6 is on the scoreboard. Ryan is still pitching, and the Hastings supporters are sweating double due to nerves and the heat. Thank goodness there is a slight breeze today. A double by WR starts off the inning. Vito now switches up Ryan for Robbey to pitch. There are no outs, one man on second, and WR up to bat here in the bottom of the 6th. An incredible play by Robbey gets WR out at third. There is a man on 1st base. A hit in the outfield brings WR on 2nd and 3rd. Both hits to the outfield have bounced out of the field. Robbey has just struck out WR for the second out! Robbey has just purposely walked a heavy hitter, and the bases are now loaded. Vito has now brought Robbey out, and Taylor is now pitching. A hit to the batter walks WR, and that’s the ballgame. Hastings played extremely well, and will now play in the semi-finals.

Game 7: Hastings vs White Rock

It’s…so…hot. Can’t… type…ughhh. It’s a cloudless, blue sky and you see the I don’t believe there’s shade anywhere, maybe except for in the trees. Hopefully these teams will make it to at least 4 innings before they pass out from the heat in their insane uniforms. White Rock has won every single game they have played, and even if we lose today, we will still be in 2nd to play in the finals. If we win, it doesn’t really matter, so basically this is similar to an exhibition game.

The top of the 1st inning begins with Taylor out at 1st. Ian who is the pinch hitter for Ryan also gets out at 1st. Robbey is up next, and he gets a base hit. Anthony strikes out with Robbey on 1st for the last out.

The bottom of the 1st inning starts off with a hit from White Rock, and Josh pitching. He strikes out a White Rock batter for the first out. I have now moved to the shade behind the diamond. Robbey gets both outs on first, and there were two men left on base.




The top of the 2nd and there are two out in the inning for Hastings. The only problem about being in the shade are bugs. So far I’ve had a fly crawl down my shirt, a spider crawl over my legs, and 2 mosquito bites. So right now its very uncomfortable everywhere. The inning ends with no runs and no men on base.

We manage to hold back most White Rock players in the bottom of the 2nd but Josh walks players to make the bases loaded. The umpire’s decisions are causing many Hastings parents to be a little upset, as well as the team. White Rock steals home to make it 1-0 for them. We get a guy at home to bring us to the next inning.

In the 3rd inning, Katie gets a base on balls, and there is a change in the pitcher for White Rock. Katie gets out at second, and Taylor is the only man on 1st until he steals 2nd. Ian gets on 1st and advances Taylor to 3rd and Robbey is now up. Taylor steals home to tie the score, and the
White Rock back catcher gets injured, which brings in a new one. White Rock seems to delay the game for both times when there was a substitute. Well, it looks like the other back catcher comes back in the game. Just as he finally comes back in, Robbey gets an out of the park home run! This brings in two runs to bring the score to 3-1. Anthony gets a base on balls, but Keenan strikes out for the last out.




It’s now the bottom of the 3rd and the sun is still shining and the bugs keep biting. Ryan is now pitching instead of Josh. The first pitch is also a hit, and soon there is one out at first with a man on 2nd for White Rock. Ryan uses his reflexes to catch a hard hit and he quickly throws it to first for another out. Another great play by Hastings gets the last out, and Ryan’s pitch count is 6 pitches.
At the top of the 4th, Josh starts off with a base on balls. Scott gets out at first but advances Josh to 2nd. Ryan then gets a great hit to the fence to bring Josh home. The score is now 4-1. Christian, subbing for Katie, gets a base on balls and Ryan is on 3rd. Taylor is up to bat, but a throw to 3rd when Ryan was leading off gets Ryan out. Taylor gets out by strikes for the last out.

It’s now the bottom of the 4th, and Ryan starts off the inning with a strike, but the White Rock batter hits a solo home run to bring the score to 4-2. The next batter gets another solo home run and this brings the score to 4-3. A few more runs brings the score to 5-4 for White Rock with two outs. White rock gets a base on balls, and a man on 3rd steals home to bring the score to 6-4. Another run on a double makes the score 7-4 and brings us to the next inning.



At the top of the 5th, we need 3 runs to tie. Robbey gets a double, and this brings to the plate Anthony. Shota is now up to bat, and both Anthony and Robbey went out. Shota strikes out, and it seems like Hastings will be running laps today.

It’s the bottom of the 5th, and White Rock has just got an RBI double. The score is now 8-4. There are now too many runs to count, and it’s getting painful to watch. The score is now 10-5. We eventually get them out, and it’s the top of the 6th.



Scott is pitching for the top of the 6th, but the hits keep coming. The score is now 11-5. The score is now 14-5. Yay. We got an out. Well, and a mercy ends the ball game.

PS: Thanks to Gene for the pictures, because my camera broke.

Game 6: Hastings vs Mt. Seymour

It’s another early game for baseball, here in Joe Martin field. We look very warmed up, probably from an 7:30 am practice beforehand, and we’re are finally home for a change, so we get the advantage of batting last. Yesterday was a scrub game with the parents, coaches, Francesca (Anthony’s sister) and I against the Hastings All-Stars. Jeff Matsuda was the star of the game, getting a grand slam, and 7 RBIs.

Anthony starts off pitching for the 1st inning, and Hastings quickly gets the first 2 outs. There is now a man on second, with Mt. Seymour up to bat, and we get him out at first. There were 15 pitches thrown by Anthony.

Lets try to get some runs in the bottom of the 1st.
Taylor starts it off with a base hit, and Ryan strikes out by the Seymour pitcher, then Robbey. Anthony gets a base hit, then Keenan gets hit in the leg with a pitch-giving him a walk. Josh is next up to bat and he gets a base hit, making the score 1-0. Christian then gets a base on balls, and brings Katie (pinch runner for Anthony) in for another run. Christian gets out running to 2nd base, so the run scored by Keenan doesn’t count.



We get the first out by Robbey running up to get the bunt, and Ryan covering 1st to get the man out. The umpire obviously enjoyed that play because he yelled “OUT!” loud enough to make it echo through the trees. Three hits off Anthony makes the bases loaded, and a nice hit to center field brings in two runs for Mt. Seymour. The inning ends with a tie 2-2 score.



The bottom of the 2nd inning begins with my favourite song, Don’t Stop Believing or Midnight Train by Journey and this pumps up a lot of 80s rock fans. Three outs come quickly for Hastings, and we need to learn to hit off of tough pitchers.

The top of the 3rd starts off with great plays that gets no runs off of one hit for Seymour.

The bottom of the 3rd, starts off with a base hit for Robbey thanks to the sun in the short stop’s eyes. Immediately after, there is a double play for Seymour, clearing the bases. The pitcher strikes Keenan out, getting no runs for Hastings.

There’s a pitching change in the top of the 4th from Anthony to Shota, and right now there is one out with one man on second base. Shota catches a pop fly and gets the second out as Mt. Seymour bats again with the top of their batting order. A hard hit to Taylor catches it, and quickly throws it to first, but the umpire believed it was out. The first base man now stole 2nd, and there is a man on 2nd and 3rd. Ryan catches a fly for the 3rd out.

The bottom of the 4th starts off with Josh batting, and he gets out with Seymour’s pitcher. Maybe we should try bunting. Then, Taz stikes out. Shota is up to bat next, and he has a great hit to the fence, but Mt. Seymour catches it to get the last out.

It is now the top of the 5th inning, and the score is still 2-2. With some immense cheering from the Hastings side, thanks to Shota’s mom Tama, we get two outs fast. A walk to a heavy hitter from Shota, then Ryan gets the last out at second.



The bottom of the 5th starts off with a double down the left field line by Scott. Taylor hits, gets out at first but brings Scott to 3rd. Katie, subbing for Ryan, gets out on three bunt attempts, then Robbie… gets an out of the park home run! He brings in two runs, and the score is now 4-2 for Hastings. Anthony gets out at first for the last out. The Mt. Seymour pitcher is at 72 pitches.

Shota is still pitching at the top of the 6th, and there is now a man on first and second with no outs. Then Taylor, who has put on sunglasses in the sunny short stop position, catches the first out. A hard hit by a Seymour player makes the bases loaded. Robbey gets the second out, but the bases are still loaded. The Hastings crowd is cheering wildly for Shota, who stays in the game at an unknown amount of pitches. Shota walks in the 3rd run on some questionable umpire decisions, and this brings the score to 4-3 for Hastings. Then… Katie makes a great catch to take away a blooper to right field and Hastings win! It was a tough, scary game, but Hastings managed to pull through and the luck of the early games carry on.

Game 5: Hastings vs Dunbar

It’s another early game for Hastings, and the weather is sunny, but cold. The supporters are regretting wearing their summer-wear, luckily we have blankets. Let’s hope Hastings gets their game face on today and removes the loss that was considered “the biggest upset of the tournament” in the Prince George newspaper from their minds.



The top of the 1st inning begins with some pumpy rock music that is finally better than the country and chicken dance songs played the previous games. Taylor starts off the game with a base hit, and Ryan getting the first out by a pop fly catch in the outfield. Robbey then gets a ‘towering” hit down the 3rd baseline to get on first, and Anthony gets a base hit, then Keenan, who brings home Taylor for the first run. Next, Josh gets a double who then brings in two more runs to make the score 3-0. Keenan then gets another run on a base hit, and Dunbar switches their pitcher. Shota brings in another run by a base hit, then Ian who gets a double by a hit in the outfield hole, to bring the score to 6-0. Ian steals home to get another run during Ryan’s time up to bat. Ryan gets a double, and brings Taylor home. The final score is 8-0, Hastings.



The bottom of the 1st inning brings in no runs for Dunbar thanks to Keenan’s great pitching, and Hastings being on the ball.

The top of the 2nd inning begins with a double by Anthony, and then Josh brings in two runs with an out of the park home run. The score is now a mercy for Hastings.

The bottom of the second begins with a base hit from Dunbar off a bad bounce in the outfield. Josh gets the first out from a nice pop fly catch, and the inning ends with no runs on one hit.

I believe the Hastings All-Stars play better and are more focused during the morning games. Being a little tired to start sometimes helps when it comes to sports, speaking from experience.

Dunbar changes their pitcher in the top of the 3rd inning, and Ryan gets his second double to bring in a run. Robbey then gets a RBI after a hit to the fence, then steals home for another run. Keenan gets a base hit, and brings Katie home to bring the score to 14-0. Straight after, Christian gets 2 RBIs on a double. The top of the 3rd ends with 7 runs on 6 hits. The score is 17-0.



The bottom of the 3rd inning is played well by Hastings who are staying alert and calm with their lead in runs and they continue to keep composed into the top of the 4th inning. Anthony gets an out of the park home run to bring the score to 19-0. It’s like a totally different team is playing today, compared to yesterday’s game. A wacky double hot-box gets one out, but Keenan steals home to make the score an even 20-0.

It is now the bottom of the 4th, and Dunbar’s last chance to score some runs. An error in the outfield brings in 2 runs for Dunbar, and the final score is 20-2.