Mallard's Team of the Week — Nelson Mariners Minor Baseball
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Nelson Mariners minor baseball team nearly pulled off a championship for the Heritage city when it went undefeated through the season ending playoff tournament in Castlegar, but ultimately lost (5-1) in the gold medal game to the Beaver Valley Blue Jays.
The Mariners started the weekend with an 18-9 rout of the host team — the previously undefeated Castlegar Cubs — on the strength of some hot bats and strong defence.
The following day the Mariners beat the fourth place Beaver Valley Blue Bombers — out of the 12-team league — by a score of 13-6 after shutting down the strong club from Fruitvale in the last half of the game.
A back-and-forth battle ensued later in the day against the Nelson Athletics, but the Mariners beat the A’s 15-10 after allowing only two runs in the last three innings.
The final game had plenty of action despite the low score, with double plays, numerous fly balls and throws from the hot corner to peg a runner at first peppered throughout the game. The Mariners played another strong game against the best pitching staff in the league and were able to hit against the Blue Jays, but the timing of the hits meant the Mariners left too many runners stranded on base and came up short on the score.
The loss in the final does not diminish the improvement and the work the boys put in to go from losing three of their first four games to finishing the season 10-4-1, including a 14-13 nail-biter in the season’s final game over the Trail Pirates.
Mallard’s Source for sports would like to salute the Mariners as Team of the Week.
The Mariners include, Leon Pajerski (bat boy), coaches Jan Pajerski and Timothy Schafer and players Riel Schafer, Kristian Pajerski, Barrett Bruce, Noah See, Luke Neufeld, Caden Hauck, Hudson Robb, Riley Arjun, Luca Clarke, Oden Doyle and Devin Lowe.
