Langley Blaze won the 2021 BC Premier Baseball League (BCPBL) championships Sunday, Aug. 1, with a 13-1 drubbing of the Victoria Eagles at McLeod Athletic Park in Langley.
Blaze head coach Jamie Bodaly noted it was the first time host Langley had won the provincial championship since 2014, and it followed their top-place finish in regular season play with a 19-5 record.
“A very strong group of kids,” he observed.
Pitcher Tom Poole was a standout both on the mound and at the plate during the series, wrapping up the final game by allowing just four hits and one run.
@cloudbaseball commit Tom Poole @__tompoole__ slashes a double the other way to lead off the 3rd. pic.twitter.com/6nSgJmyPRe
— PBR British Columbia (@PrepBaseballBC) August 1, 2021
“He was our best player,” Bodaly commented.
Poole, with a batting average of .364 and an earned run average of 1.54, was named Most Valuable Player by the team.
With the easing of outdoor restrictions, fans were able to cheer the teams on from the stands.
Under phase three of the provincial restart plan, outdoor sport activities are allowed 5,000 spectators or 50 per cent seated capacity, whichever is greater.
The @Langleyblaze used a 14-hit attack to overpower the @VictoriaEagles 13-1 to win the 2021 @BCPBL Championship Sunday in Langley. @tc_vicsports #BCHighSchoolBaseball #YYJSports #YYJBaseball #BCPBL #SeasonOver pic.twitter.com/WDFUlhim9T
— Christian J. Stewart (@cjs_photography) August 2, 2021
Bodaly is looking forward to next season, noting 16 players will be leaving to graduate for college, but a core of eight will be returning, players he described as “better than solid.”
“Some very talented kids,” Bodaly told the Langley Advance Times.
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BCPBL or the PBL, is a competitive youth baseball league including Parksville Royals, Nanaimo Pirates, Victoria Mariners, North Shore Twins, Coquitlam Reds, North Delta Blue Jays, Whalley Chiefs, White Rock Tritons, Langley Blaze, Abbotsford Cardinals, Victoria Eagles and Okanagan Athletics.
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