Aug 13/09 ~ Cl-A'ssy: A's Garner Joe Shea Award
The A's leave the national championship as the proud recipients of the Joe Shea Award, presented annually to the team that best conducts itself with the values imbued in the Little League pledge. Throughout the week, the A's competed hard, but win or lose, they always conducted themselves with class and dignity, never letting their heads hang. For many of the boys, this is the end of their time in the Senior League. For others, this was the first time that they had ever made a post-season team, never mind winning a provincial championship.

From continuous courtesy, to a professional approach in all aspects of their operation, the A's were the class of the tournament. On time, well-dressed, and respectful, the A's were proud ambassadors for British Columbia and leave with their heads held high. Not so for some of the other participants, as numerous incidents at the hotel have the Saint John police stationed here for the night to make sure that the situation does not get out of hand.

The A's were at the park to cheer at the championship final, which saw the Ontario representatives, the Cornwall Black Sox edge the host Saint John All-Stars 3-2 in the final. Congratulations to the Black Sox as they go on to represent Canada at the Senior League World Series in Bangor, Maine.

Aug 12/09 ~ Could-A, Would-A, Should-A's: Nothing Left to Lose
With only pride and team unity on the line, the A's started their bench in the mean-nothing game against the Valleyfield Elites du Quebec in their final game of the 2009 Canadian Senior League Championship. Not an unreasonable move, considering the top 5 of the A's batting order had combined for an .033 batting average in the tournament. The A's had slated 14-year old John Velten as their starter, but when he missed the bus to to get to the park, they slotted ace Brian Choi into the line-up to chuck. Choi showed command in the first, although roughed up by a couple of timely hits by the Quebec squad, which was in a must-win situation in order to make the playoffs. Quebec shut out the A's for most of the game, but the A's rallied to plate 2 in the fifth, making it 4-2. All 16 players were called into service as Cody Carlyle took to the mound as Quebec came around to the top of the order for the third time. Cody was effective, with good command and velocity, and a filthy changeup. The revised game plan had John Velten slated to pitch the 6th, and he also was effective, relying on his defence to get the three outs he was asked to get. In the 7th, Darren Honeysett came in to close, and after some early control problems, shut down the Valleyfield bats.

With one away in the seventh, and a runner at second - Travis Bartlett delivered a clutch hit to keep the A's hopes alive. The only thing on the line was to spoil Quebec's chances to advance to the playoffs, so the A's were alive and up on the fence in the dugout, rally caps on. Two pitches later, a ground ball to the second baseman set up a game-ending double play. But the throw to first was errant and the A's were still alive. But then the Quebec manager came out to argue that Travis had taken out the second baseman to break up the play. But there was no contact whatsoever as Bartlett was clearly out by 4 steps. So, obviously, the interference argument was frivolous. But after a 5 minute discussion about the the out that would end the game, first base umpire (and crew chief) Sam Hachey ruled that inference had indeed occurred.

A's manager Bruce Michael immediately lept off his bucket and stormed into Hachey's face, accusing him of being the show to end the game. Hachey explained that he had asked the umpire making the call at second whether Bartlett could have reached the bag and conveyed that if Bartlett could not have touched the bag with his hand, then Bartlett was guilty of Interference. But since no contact was made on the play, Michael became incensed and went OFF on Hachey, venting a week's worth of frustration in an intense two minute, spit-spraying diatribe. By the time he was done, Michael had gone finger-pointing, spit spraying and vocally ripping the veteran umpire. The call was obviously a show boat move, designed only to show off the 35 year veteran umpire and the A's manager got a ferocious piece of him, before finally resigning and spinning on his heel to give up the verbal battle and concede the result.

If the Provincial tournament coulda been contested later, the A's woulda had only a week off. And that shoulda been enough to keep the A's at their peak and do some damage in the Nationals.

Aug 10/09 ~ A-nemic! BC Champs eliminated
The offensive and defensive woes continued for the boys from BC, as they narrowly avoided having another game shortened due to the mercy rule against Team Saskatchewan this morning. The Coquitlam A's committed another 4 errors, bringing their total for the tournament to 12, while only scoring 9 runs.

Jorgan Tennant was slated to start for the A's, having been cleared by his physiotherapist to resume throwing again today. The A's have sorely missed his bat in the cleanup spot over the opening weekend, and were eager to see him return to the mound. But it was not to be - the inflamed shoulder was too painful as he warmed up in the bullpen pre-game, and Ronnie Parrish was pressed into action instead. Parrish had good command, with only a couple of walks issued. But combined with a couple of errors and some timely Saskatchewan hitting, the A's found themselves on the short end of the score after the 1st. It wasn't until the 4th that the A's finally got some life from their bats, as Cody Zazulak, Russ Hallady and Brady Veltin all hit doubles. But is was far too little, far too late.

Buoyed by the exuberant support of the enthusiastic Coquitlam parents, the A's have battled hard every inning, hustling and keeping their heads high. Ever classy, the boys are in good spirits, despite the disappointing round robin result. With only a mean-nothing game ahead of them now, the boys are enjoying a little R & R with their parents today, and planning to put together a solid performance and show the rest of Canada what they can bring when they play their 'A' game against Quebec tomorrow.

Aug 9/09 ~ Backs A-gainst the Wall: Late Inning Rally Boosts A's
The A's continued to show the effects of 4 hours of jet lag, as a series of errors, combined with less than maximum velocity from A's starter Benny Maeda, spotted the hometown Saint John squad a 13 buzz lead before the A's finally found their sticks. Saint John had held the A's to just a single hit before they started to manage their pitching. The A's licked their chops at the Saint John bullpen. Led by young Trevor Jorger, who led off the top of the fifth with a single to centre, the A's rallied to plate 6 runs and keep the game alive. Jorger, in fact, batted twice during the marathon rally, and singled again to go 2/2 with another single later in the same inning. Jorger also made a spectacular catch in right field standing on his face to snare the ball. Unfortunately, the face-plant impact also jarred the ball loose at the last instant.

Now sitting at 0-3, the A's are in a must win situation. With wins over Saskatchewan tomorrow and Quebec the following day, the A's would likely make the playoffs with fresh pitching ready to do some damage in the playoffs. The boys are ready and rested now, with their game faces on - and have pledged to wreak havoc tomorrow morning.

Aug 9/09 ~ M.I.A's
The A's struggles at the plate continued against the Cornwall Black Sox on Sunday morning as they faced a righty that held them to 2 hits. Left Cody Carlyle took the hill for the A's and consistently hit the strike zone through 4 innings, but was not able to keep the aggressive Black Sox off the board, as they cashed in consistently, scoring two in the first, adding another one in the second. Carlyle was removed at 60 pitches, giving way to Ronnie Parrish, who also threw strikes, but gave up a mammoth 3 run dinger when he hung a changeup in the fifth. A couple of errors and wild throws sunk the A's in the bottom of the sixth as the White Sox scored the walk off 10th run to shorten the game when the mercy rule was invoked. The A's are back at it right away, facing the hometown club from Saint John in a televised game this afternoon.

Aug 8/09 ~ Atlantic Ace
The missing gear arrived, but it didn't include the trusted Coquitlam sticks, as Glace Bay Antonian's ace Aaron Guthro posted 15 K's to hold the A's to 4 hits en route to a 10-1 victory. The A's carried a 1-0 lead into the top of the fourth, but then a controversial call over a high curve ball got Guthro right riled up and he bore down on the A's from then on. In the top of the fifth, with two away, shortstop Tyler Yorko laid out to snag a hard grounder up the middle and fired a missile to first to end the inning and fire up the A's. Unfortunately, the umpire did not see it quite the same way and the A's set out to get a "fourth out". Although being one strike away on four different occasions, the Antonians squirted ground balls, and tommy-hawked a monster fly to garner 5 runs despite Brian Choi's effective pitching. Guthro then really went to town, striking out 9 of the next 10 batters he faced, totally shutting down the A's.

Tomorrow, the A's face the Cornwall Black Sox, who dominated the Ontario championship, in the first game of the day before returning to the diamond to face the undefeated host squad from Saint John at 4 pm.

Aug 7/09 ~ Itchin' for Action
After 11 hours of travel, much of it bumpy and turbulent, the A's found themselves short one bag of equipment as they set up camp in Saint John. West-Jet is stepping up to the plate and the errant gear, which was shipped back to Vancouver, will make its way back to Toronto tonight, then to Moncton tomorrow morning, where it will be loaded on a bus to make its way to Memorial Field in time for the tomorrow night's opening game against the Atlantic Champions from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.

The A's are itchin' for action after a couple of weeks of inactivity and all hit the sack early after shining shoes, and making sure their uniforms are all in tip top shape for the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow afternoon at 3:15.

The weather here in Saint John is much like spring in Vancouver - not too hot, with lots of fluffy white cumulus clouds. Let's git it on...

July 25/09 ~ A's play 3 of a kind
On the eve of the Little League Provincials, the Junior League A's joined the Senior and Big League A's (district 3 team) as Provincial Champions by beating White Rock in the finals at Ambleside Park.

Congrats to ALL Coquitlam Little League members, coaches, parents and players on this historic occasion!

July 24, 2009 ~ It's an even Better Day To Be An 'A'
The Junior A's completed the sweep of the 90-foot divisions of Little League baseball in BC, defeating the squad from White Rock Little League 5 - 3 to garner the provincial title. The A's will now have 3 teams and 37 players at the Nationals. The Juniors win follows hot on the heels of their National Championship last year, when Coquitlam hosted the tournament and came out on top. This year's Nationals will be held in Langley, BC from August 6 - 14. They join the Senior A's, who are poised for a shot at the Canadian Championship in Saint John, NB at the same time.

The Big League A's carry a 4-1 record into their semi-final match-up against Glace Bay, NS at the Big League Canadians in Windsor, ON.

July 22/09 ~ It's a Great Day To Be An 'A'
After becoming the first Senior team from Coquitlam Little League to win the BC Provincial Championship, the Senior A's were excited to hear that their Big Brother Squad - The Big League A's (along with players from Whalley and Langley) won the first game of their Canadian Championships in Windsor, Ont. Defeating the Prairies team 6-3. To make things even sweeter, the Senior A's little brothers - The Junior A's beat Whalley 4-1 to advance to the Provincial Finals at Ambleside Park on Thursday, July 23rd @ 6pm.

*** GOOD LUCK TO ALL COQUITLAM LITTLE LEAGUE TEAMS***

July 21/09 ~ WHAT A #% A's*$#@ GAME: Senior A's Win Provincials
The Senior A's came out calm and confident on a hot Tuesday evening at Blue Mountain Park. The District 5 Red Sox knew that they had to come at ace Brian Choi early and did so by taking a 4-0 lead. Tyler Yorko closed the gap with a solo homerun to lead off the 5th as the A's refused to quit. Going into the top of the 7th down 4-2, Brady Veltin led off with a MASSIVE double to the left field wall that began a 4 run rally. Brian Choi pitched a fantastic game, finishing the game with 97 pitches including striking out the last batter of the game. Team chemistry and depth in all aspects of the game helped the 2009 Senior A's make Coquitlam Little League history by being the first Senior team from CLL to win a Provincial Championships.

Congrats to the Senior A's who move on to represent British Columbia at the 2009 Canadian Championships in New Brunswick!

July 19/09 ~ Depth Continues to Help A's Win
For the second straight year, the A's will be in the Provincial Championships after beating District 5 West 13-6. Strong bullpen relief, consistent hitting and speed on the bases continue to give the A's the edge.

The Provincial Championship game is on Tuesday, July 21st. 6:30pm at Blue Mountain Park. Come out and support your Senior A's!

July 18/09 ~ Team Depth Helps A's Start Provincials With a Win
The Coquitlam A's came to their home park on Sunday afternoon with a game plan and stuck to it. A strong start by Benny Maeda and consistent hitting throughout the order was helped by timely pinch running, pinch hits and great relief from the bullpen.

July 15/09 ~ A's Ready for Provincials
After a steady season with teams from all over BC in many different leagues, the Senior A's are excited for the Provincial tournament that starts Saturday, July 18th at Blue Mountain Park. Led by strong pitching and consistent hitting, the A's have grown as a team and look forward to putting their development to the test. The A's hope to see everyone from Coquitlam Little League out to support them as they make a run for a provincial championship.