Chuckers lose a pair of wins
Richmond's victories over Cowichan null and void
The Richmond Chuckers lost more than just a couple of ball games last week. They also had two wins taken away.
Richmond went into the week tied for top spot in the B.C. Minor Baseball Association Midget AAA Division standings with Vancouver. But when Cowichan Valley announced it was folding, Richmond's two victories over the Vancouver Island team were nullified leaving the Chukars with a 6-4 win-loss record and in third place.
On the field, Richmond dropped back-to-back 5-4 games to Vancouver on Wednesday and Chilliwack on Saturday, before bouncing back for a 5-4 win over second-place Tri City later on Saturday.
Aaron Zuzartee and Rhys Verde Rios both had two hits and a run each against Vancouver, while Bryan Chatzispiros went 2-for-4 and drove in a run. Starting pitcher Brad Fontaine, who went 3 2/3 innings and gave up all five earned runs, was tagged with the loss. Dirk Dembroski threw the final 3 1/3 innings and had three strikeouts in relief.
Verde Rios threw six solid innings against Chilliwack and helped his own cause offensively with a pair of hits but it wasn't enough.
Fontaine was 1-for-4 at the plate with a double and drove in two runs for Richmond.
Verde Rios did however help Jens Cuthbert to a seven-inning win against Tri City. Verde Rios was 2-for-3 and had two RBIs and a stolen base and Chatzispiros went 1-for-2 and scored twice to lead Richmond. Adam Wachtel was also 2-for-3 at the plate while pitcher Cuthbert had six strikeouts.
Richmond is planning to hold spring baseball camps starting May 17 at Latrace Field in Minoru Park. E-mail MidgetAAABaseball@yahoo.ca for more details or to pre-register.
MIDGET AAA
(Standings as of May 11)
TEAM W L T PCT
Vancouver 10 2 0 .833
Tri City 5 3 0 .625
Richmond 6 4 0 .600
Rutland 6 5 0 .545
Chilliwack 7 6 0 .538
Kamloops 4 4 0 .500
Ridge Meadows 5 6 0 .455
Victoria Capitals 4 5 0 .444
Newton 3 10 0 .231
Cowichan Valley dropped out of the league this week. As a result all games involving Cowichan Valley have been decalred null and void.
PLAYER PROFILE
Name: Aaron Zuzartee
Nickname(s): Hoover
Hometown: Richmond
Birth Date: August 27, 1986
Position: 2nd Base
Jersey Number: 1
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 150 lbs
Bats/Throws: Left/Right
Most Memorable Baseball Moment: Winning the 2000 B.C. Bantam Division All-Star championship
Previous Baseball Teams: Richmond Auto Body Budgies, RBA
Interests or Hobbies: Paintball, Snowboarding and Hockey
FAVOURITES
Pro Baseball Team: Seattle Mariners
Pro Baseball Player: Alex Rodriguez
Baseball Movie: The Sandlot, Field of Dreams
Baseball Banter: "Ninety per cent of baseball is mental, the other half is physical."–Yogi Berra
Coach Josh Ridgway's comments: "Aaron is a slick-fielding second baseman. He is a good contact hitter who is smart and quick on the bases. "Aaron will be looked upon to provide veteran leadership this season."
Budgies' still struggling to find their game
Don Fennell, Sports Editor
Gord Lowrey is perplexed.
The Richmond Auto Body Budgies' manager remains convinced the local Pacific Metro Baseball League club is better than its one win in 10 games suggests. But he admits even his confidence is waning.
"It's not like anybody is that much better than us," Lowrey said after Richmond dropped both ends of a doubleheader Sunday to the Surrey Mariners (6-4) 3-0 and 7-2. "
"But we still haven't learned how to win, and when you're 1-9 like we are and you get down a couple of runs you expect to lose."
Game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader is proof. Although Surrey pitcher Mark Dorrington threw well (striking out 11 Richmond players along the way), the Budgies got an equally strong pitching effort from Jake Dojack (eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings) but couldn't take advantage of it.
The teams were scoreless through five innings when the Mariners came through with three runs in the top of the sixth to win it.
While waiting for a young team to mature is frustrating, Lowrey said it's still better than last season when the Budgies (8-22) knew they basically had no chance of winning some games.
Richmond hosts Vancouver noon Sunday at Latrace Field in Minoru Park.
`Ody' to lead Canada
Richmond's Kristy Odamura captain of Olympic women's softball team
Michael McQuillan, Metro Valley Sports
If Canada's women's softball team makes it to the podium at the 2004 Summer Olympics, that medal will have a made-in-B.C. tint to it.
The final 15-player roster, named Wednesday, includes eight from B.C., headed by team captain and second baseman Kristy Odamura from Richmond. The entire pitching staff Lauren Bay from Trail, North Vancouver's Kaila Holtz, Ani Nyhus from White Rock and Surrey's Auburn Sigurdson all hail from this province.
But there's also a distinctive B.C. flavour throughout the rest of the roster. Since January much of the Olympic team has been centralized at Simon Fraser University for its training. Coach Mike Renney, from Aldergrove, brought much of the team there so he could coach both them and the SFU varsity squad.
Centralizing the squad in one location is crucial, said Renney. At the last Olympics Canada finished last in the eight-team tournament, losing five of its six games by just one run.
Any edge the team can gain over its competition at the Athens Olympics could mean the difference between a one-run loss and a narrow victory, said Renney. He sees the United States as the clear gold medal favourite but a five-team horse race (Canada, Australia, China, Chinese-Taipei and Japan) for the other two medals.
The team will spend much of the next three months leading up to the Olympics training atop Burnaby Mountain.
"Many of the players have put their lives on hold," said Renney of the team centralizing in Burnaby.
That commitment has paid off already, he added. The squad has developed character. That "Canadian pride and grittiness" should translate into a medal.
"This is the first time they've centralized the Olympic team and its been key for us so far," said Sasha Olson, an outfielder from Valemount, B.C. She points to recent Canadian victories over China, Australia and Chinese-Taipeiall ranked higher than Canadaas evidence of team unity and success.
"(Centralization) means we have had a lot of time to put into these athletes," said Renney. "It also makes a big difference training here because we've been able to do it during a time of the year that isn't typical. At this time of the year its winter everywhere else in Canada."
q SHORT STOPS: The Olympic team includes just three players who were at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Odamura, catcher/first baseman Erin White from Richmond and second baseman Jackie Lance from Surrey are the Olympic veterans.
Sigurdson, Olson, catcher Erin Cumpstone and short stop Angela Lichty are all former members of the SFU Clan on the Olympic team. Outfielder Rachel Schill is a current Clan member who is red-shirting this season.
This week in baseball
Riverhawks step up to the plate
The Richmond Riverhawks stepped up to the plate last week when it counted most.
Needing to win three games to finish first at the qualifying mark for the Richmond Minor Baseball Association's May long weekend tournament, the Riverhawks defeated the Tsawassen Reds 9-2 Wednesday and then topped the Richmond Canadians 8-2 and Richmond Nemesis 8-3 Friday in Bantam A Division action.
Only two of five teams qualify for the tournament and by running the table the Riverhakws were able to overtake the Nemesis for top spot.
The Riverhawks broke open a tight 3-2 game with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning against the Nemesis. But coach Serj Sangara said what made victory possible was "great team defence and hitting in all three games."
Pitchers Allen Rimer, Daniel Hatud and Jai Sangara were all solid on the mound, while Ronnie Chang, Willis Kwee, Nik Leisz, Jasper Lu, Sean Ohara, Dean Paterson, Andy Tsai and Johnson Wong also played well.
The Victoria Day long weekend tournament has two divisions, a single-A division and a double-A division.
Play in the double-A division begins today (Thursday) at 7 p.m. at Brighouse Park, with the championship game scheduled for 4 p.m. May 24.
Play in the single-A division begins tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Hugh Boyd Park, with the championship game slated for 1 p.m. May 24 at Brighouse Park.
Meridian of Bellingham is the defending single-A champion, and Port Coquitlam the double-A winner.
This Week in Baseball appears every Thursday in The Richmond Review.
Richmond kept Prince George off the scoreboard until the sixth inning when they scored three runs on a few timely hits. The Islanders responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning for the victory.
The offence was led by Casey Page who had two triples and four doubles in six games. Kristi Kozak hit the first home run of the season for the Islanders and also hit in the last two runs of the final, both coming on a down-the-right-field-line double. Also contributing at the plate with triples were Ally Wickham, Amanda Lade, Jessica Johnson and Kelly Levido.
Some great catches in the field to save runs were made by Meghan McClenahan, Stefani Durrant and Megan Sim. Michelle Wideski made some clutch snags at shortstop to end potential rallies. And Blythe Pearce, back from a recent knee injury, hit .500 during the tournament.
Casey steps up at plate
Isles `88B win in North Delta
The Richmond Islanders '88B team did not allow a run in four round-robin games on their way to winning the North Delta Bantam Division girls' softball tournament last weekend.
Richmond recorded decisive wins over North Delta Inferno 7-0, Langley Lightning '89 4-0, North Delta Sunfire 7-0 and Fleetwood '89 14-0.
Their first playoff game was also never in doubt as the Islanders won 7-1. The pitcher/catcher combination of Kaitlyn Watson and Bailey Kitzmann only allowed a strong-hitting White Rock Thunder '88 team a single run.
The Islanders also came up against a strong Prince George team in the gold medal game. Alex Yule and Kelly Levido were given the call for the pitcher/catcher combo in the final and with good defence and pitching the Islanders were able to earn a 4-3 win.
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