Canadians Northwest League Champs!!

Photo’s D. Laird Allan/Sportswave

Vancouver’s three professional teams showed their true grit managing to pull out wins in all weekend games on the diamond, the turf as well as the pitch playing in hostile territory.

Starting at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium the Vancouver Canadians under the leadership of Delta’s Brent Lavallee showed why they continue to draw sell-out crowds each and every season.

This was Brent’s second full season as the GM of the C’s and if you ask anyone there is no doubt that he put more pressure on himself than anyone else considering that he grew up playing both hockey and ball in North Delta.

Over the season we have had the privilege to have several conversations with him which covered various topics ranging from ball to his playing as a goalie for NDMHA at Delta’s Sungod Arena.

His passion shows through not just for his home community but also working to develop his young players into top class pro players who have their sights set on playing MLB possibly for the Jay’s.

Since media day earlier in the spring he mentioned that his job was development of players to advance to the next level of their career, which he and his staff did a remarkable job sending players to the major league.

As frustrating as this might be they managed to get through the struggles they were forced to face that saw they acquire additional players that saw the process start over again.

When the season got down to the final championship series squaring off against the Mariners farm team, the Everett Aquasox with the first two games south of the 49th that saw the teams pull a split heading to Vancouver.

Game three was a nail biter with the C’s pulling out a 1-0 win in front of 6,300 plus fans that no doubt motivated them heading into game four less than 24 hours later.

For Everett it was win or face the long grueling lonely bus ride home across the 49th setting their sights on next season which is never easy for anyone on the end of a final series.

Game four saw the C’s in desperation mode not wanting to play game five Sunday which never happened with C’s Jeff Wehler starting the second off with a double, followed by a double from Garrett Spain making it 1-0  for the C’s.

Following a pair of walks he advanced to third that saw a double play bring him home.

Vancouver sent Ryan Jennings to the mound for the first time as a pro, pitched three scoreless and hitless innings allowing one walk, a hit batter and five strikeouts prior to turning the mound over to Anders Tolhurst (W, 1-0). 

In the top of the fourth he managed to retire the side in order that proved to be the last time the game could have changed for either team.

The C’s had a five-run fourth that saw Spain single followed by a Dasan Brown walk forcing a pitching change for Everett.

After a strikeout Jommer Hernandez stepped up and sent a blooper single into shallow center that saw the C’s load the base that saw a run-scoring fielder’s choice putting the C’s up 3-0.

If you play any sport you know that mistakes can and are costly and in this case the next at-bat changed the remainder of the game that saw an inning-ending groundout that saw a high throw allowing a run to score.

This put a pair of runners on for Cade Doughty who hammered a two-RBI double to LF putting the C’s up by six runs as Martinez hammered a single allowing Doughty to cross the plate putting the C’s up 7-0.

Everett did however manage to score two runs in the fifth which ended Vancouver’s 19.2 scoreless innings streak in the series. 

The sixth saw Doughty double setting up a Martinez base hit with a pair in the seventh that saw Spain second double of the night setting up a first career High-A homer from 2023 draftee Nick Goodwin.

 The conversation turned to the game being the C’s to lose considering they were up 10-2 after seven that saw them manage scoreless innings of relief from Eric Pardinho and Justin Kelly in the eighth and the ninth, respectively, to close out the game and clinch the title.

 Utilizing a strong offense they managed only just four runs on 19 hits in the first three games that saw them grab double-digit scores on 13 hits outscoring the AquaSox 14-12. 

Noticeably it was all nine starters that reached base, seven of which had a hit followed by three-knocks from Spain and Martinez who went 7-16 collecting a double and three RBI’s in four games played.

The season saw strong pitching from the C’s in the regular season and there was nothing to let them down in the playoffs. 

Interesting fact is if and only if you take away the first three innings in Game 2 that saw them give up 10 runs on five hits the C’s only allowed two runs sending 19 hits over 32 innings and if you’re a math wizard it works out to be a 0.92 ERA.

This is the first time the C’s are once again the NWL (Northwest League) Champions since 2017 and the fifth since becoming the Jays affiliate in 2011 and the first full season baseball crown since the Pacific Coast League Canadians won in 1999.

As emotional  of a ride this was in the post game ceremony while myself and Steve Ewen were doing an interview with Brent, he abruptly turned and ran to his high school best friend.

Needless to say the reunion was worth the wait and he had a smile from ear to ear simply delighted to see him join him in the celebration, which was not only touching but emotional.

The next season begins now and it’ll be interesting to see who returns to the C’s for 2024. 

The season starts all over with C’s defending their title April 5, 2024 in Spokane followed by the home opener Tuesday, April 9 against Hillsboro. 

For more info contact CanadiansBaseball.com.

Thank you for following along this season!