By Kevin J. Sabo
For the Advance
After a series of ups and downs during the season, the Castor U15 “AA” Raiders Baseball team has brought home the championship title from the Western Canada finals.
The Raiders, who played around 30 games during their season, started their season strong winning their first nine games before suffering a player injury and a loss.
Instead of drifting apart, the team pulled together and fought for wins all season, eventually finding themselves victorious in the Western Canadian Baseball Finals, on Aug. 18th in Strathmore.
“The hardships and the adversity made us better,” said Jeff Bowen, Castor Raiders team manager.
“My boys never quit.”
Their championship win during the finals was hard fought. Playing against an equally dedicated and committed Cowichan Valley team, the Raiders found themselves on the wrongs side of a 6-1 score after the fourth inning. The team’s fortunes turned over the next two innings as they were able to claw themselves back into the game.
“At the end of the sixth we were leading 8-7 thanks to savvy base running by Chase Rombough, Carter Moench, and our big lefty closer, Austin London, held them scoreless for the win,” said Bowen.
The Raiders train in Castor, however the talent on the team is drawn from all over.
This past season the Raiders had players from Hanna, Alliance, Killam, and even as far away as Grand Prairie.
“It’s a huge compliment to our program that these players keep coming back when they have options to go elsewhere,” said Bowen, who has coached most of the kids since their rookie year.
“It’s a compliment to their faith in me as a coach.”