It was a golden weekend for the Jasper Peewee Bears baseball team at the Blackfalds Summer Kickoff tournament June 24-26.
Jasper downed the host team 11-2 to capture the gold medal in the final. Pitcher Kelan Polard allowed only two runs while striking out ten batters and giving up three hits. Polard also blasted a home run, his fourth of the tournament.
Offensive power also came from James Vallier who chipped in with a homer to help the Bears to victory. Dylan Dekker added a triple and a single for the Bears while Everett Deltz duplicated Dekker’s feat. Elvis Gorontzy-Slack and Bryce Smith had two hits each and Baden Koss contributed with a single.
Dekker pitched a solid game as Jasper defeated the Millet Hornets 14-8 in the semifinal. Jadon Brown relieved Dekker in the final two innings. Polard and Deltz clouted round-trippers for the Bears and Deltz also hit a triple to go with his home run. Brown and Vallier chipped in with a pair of hits each in the Bears’ attack.
Jasper opened the tournament by downing the Blackfalds second team 19-1. Josh Howes and Cole Borrow shared the mound for the Bears in game one and both were solid. Polard hit his first homer of the weekend and added a pair of singles, good for five RBIs.
Dekker and Polard split the pitching duties in Jasper’s 13-1 win over Millet in game two. Polard and Smith blasted home runs for Jasper while Borrow, Howes and Gorontzy-Slack added triples. Dekker and Gorontzy-Slack had three hits each for the Bears.
Jasper currently sits with a record of eleven wins and one loss on the season. The Bears travel to St. Albert on July 9-10 for round one of provincial play.
Steve Kushneryk Special to the Fitzhugh
