After a 5-0 loss to Ontario to open nationals, the Pirates rebounded with a 4-0 win over Saskatchewan, followed by an 8-2 loss to Quebec. The Pirates then went on a run to make the medal game: 6-2 win over New Brunswick, 6-3 triumph versus Manitoba and a 3-2 victory over Ontario in the semi-final. (Mid Island Pirates)

By Ian Holmes

zero to hero

Mid Island Pirates secure national U18 silver medal following dreadful regular season

Aug 21, 2024 | 5:24 AM

NANAIMO — Success didn’t appear to be in the cards for the Mid Island Pirates following an agonizing last-place finish in the Premier Baseball League (PBL) regular season this year.

Following a 7-31 campaign on the 10-team U18 provincial circuit, the Pirates failed to qualify as one of the league’s top eight teams to compete in the PBL championship tournament last month.

However, it wasn’t time to pack away their cleats just yet.

Since the Pirates represented the province at Baseball Canada’s U18 national championship last season, the team earned the right to compete on the national stage again this time around after defeating a Kamloops-based minor college prep team 2-1 in a best-of-three series in late July.

On Sunday, Aug. 18 Alberta dispatched B.C. (Mid Island Pirates) 12-2 in the national title game in St. John’s, Nfld, concluding an impressive Cinderella run for the Nanaimo-based squad.

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The Pirates avenged a 5-0 tournament opening loss to Ontario by edging them 3-2 earlier on Sunday to secure a spot in the championship game.

“I don’t think anybody would have believed that if we told them we were going to come down here with a team that finished 13th in our league and bring home a silver, I don’t think anybody would have believed that,” Pirates general manager Brandon Dornan proudly told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Standout pitcher Reed Sutton hurled a sparkling eight-inning performance in the semi-final to help solidify a gold medal game appearance for the Pirates.

What makes the Mid Island Pirates’ accomplishment even more impressive was the fact the team had the option to, but declined stacking its roster with players from elsewhere in the province.

Instead, the team filled with eleventh graders and no eligible twelfth-grade talent, found reinforcements in the form of a few underaged tenth graders from the junior Pirates program.

Dornan said their team felt comfortable going to nationals with their nucleus of players.

“We left it up to them (the players) and asked them how they wanted to approach this tournament…our guys elected to just go with who we’ve been playing with.”

Despite the hype around a national championship setting, Dornan said their coaching staff didn’t put any additional pressure on their youthful club.

“Everybody played loose. That’s high-performance sports, if you can play loose and play with confidence you’ll find results.”

With their regular season struggles a distant afterthought, Dornan said they were clearly a much better team than their regular season showed.

“It’s easy in sports to fall down that vortex, the negativity after a tough season and we could have easily continued down that path and instead the boys did it, the boys rallied behind something new. I’m super proud of these guys,” Dornan said, who noted their ability to return all of their players next season sets up their 2025 PBL campaign favourably.

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes