TRU gunning for gold
If recent form is any indication, the TRU WolfPack men’s baseball team stands a good chance of winning the Canadian College Baseball Conference championship.
The tournament featuring the league’s five member teams — the Prairie Baseball Academy (PBA) Dawgs of Lethbridge, the Vancouver Island Baseball Institute (VIBI) Mariners of Nanaimo, the Okanagan College Coyotes of Kelowna, the Calgary Dinos and the WolfPack — gets underway today (May 10) at Norbrock Stadium.
TRU is 11-4 in its last 15 games and has been consistent at the plate.
The WolfPack have scored 60 runs in their last 10 games, and only once in that span has the team scored less than three runs.
PBA is the tournament’s No. 1 seed, with TRU occupying the second spot, but WolfPack coach Ray Chadwick does not see a clear tournament favourite.
“With everyone having to play everyone, it’s just a matter of what pitcher you want to face what team,” he said.
“It would have been nice to finish first overall again because you have two games on opening day and have a chance to rest up the rest of the way.”
The Dawgs, who won last year’s championship, finished the 2012 regular season atop the standings with a 20-6 record, well clear of the second-place WolfPack (17-11).
VIBI (13-5) is the tournament’s third seed, Okanagan (13-5) the fourth and Calgary (5-21) the fifth.
This is the third straight year Kamloops has hosted the CCBC championship. It will return to Norbrock in 2013.
VIBI rained on TRU’s parade in 2010, knocking off the WolfPack 7-4 in the final to win the title.
The WolfPack open their tournament against the Coyotes at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday.
TRU plays twice on Friday, May 11, at 11:30 a.m. against Calgary and at 7 p.m. against VIBI.
The Dawgs and the Pack meet at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, in the final round-robin matchup.
If the WolfPack make it to the final, they will play at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 13.
— with files from TRU sports information
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