North Shore Twins take BC Premier League title

The 2019 BCPBL Champion North Shore Twins. Photo: Christian J. Stewart.

Aug. 4, 2019

By Christian J. Stewart

VANCOUVER, BC - The North Shore Twins broke open a 2-2 ball game with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and another three runs in the sixth to defeat the Mid-Island Pirates 9-2 and win the 2019 BC Premier League Championship Sunday afternoon at UBC Stadium in Vancouver.

Adam Maier sprints around the bases. He would score three times and add a triple in Sunday’s win. Photo: Christian J. Stewart.

The Twins fifth inning outburst was highlighted by a two-RBI double from Hilo Yamamoto, while the additional three runs in the sixth came courtesy of an RBI triple from Adam Maier and a two-run bomb over the centre field fence from catcher Ben Columbus.

Pirates second baseman Josh Hill makes the catch a bit too late to nab Twins baserunner Damon Hutchings on this play in Sunday’s final game Photo: Christian J. Stewart.

Things looked good for the Pirates early, as they jumped all over Twins starter Liam Bates for four hits and two runs in the top of the first.

Liam Bates went the distance in the Twins victory over the Pirates. Photo: Christian J. Stewart.

Unfortunately for them, the Twins returned the favour in the bottom of the first, when a two-RBI double from the Twins Griffen Palfrey off Mid-Island starter Jackson Stephen knotted the score at 2-2.

Pirates baserunner Josh Hill is a dead duck at home plate as Twins catcher Ben Columbus gets set to make the tag. Photo: Christian J. Stewart.

That’s the way things stayed until the bottom of the fifth, when Sam Van Snellenberg led things off with a single and then broke the tie, scoring on a Columbus fly ball. A Palfrey single off Pirate reliever Colby Neff then scored Maier (who had walked) setting the stage for Yamamoto’s double that gave the Twins the 6-2 lead.

Ben Columbus had a run-scoring fly ball and a two run home run to pace the Twins attack. Photo: Christian J. Stewart.

If the top-seeded Pirates had any thoughts of a comeback at that point, they were pretty much quashed by Columbus’s sixth inning home run, and although they mustered a two-out walk and a hit in the top of the seventh, Bates was able to induce a ground ball to end the game and trigger the Twin’s on-field celebration.

With his team reflected in his sunglasses, Pirates Head Coach Doug Rogers delivers some motivation late in Sunday’s game. Photo: Christian J. Stewart.

For North Shore, Bates recorded the win, going the distance and giving up the two Pirate runs on eight hits while striking out five. The Pirate’s Jackson Stephen took the loss, going 4.1 innings and giving up five runs on five hits and striking out three.

Offensively, both Columbus and Palfrey had three-RBI games for the Twins, while Van Snellenberg added a pair of hits to the mix. Adam Maier also scored three times, having walked twice and tripled. For the Pirates, Josh Hill and Dylan Brock had a pair of hits each in the losing effort.