2007 Page - Layritz Little League, Victoria

Layritz Wins! On Monday night the boys of Layritz beat out Hampton to become the District 7 Champions. Hampton took an early lead but Layritz battled back to win the title and a berth in the Provincial Championships in Vancouver. Final score : 15 - 5. Some highlights included a Grand Slam Home Run, a Two Run Home Run, and many amazing plays and catches.

Congratulations Boys and Coaches! Good luck at the Provincial Tournament.
Click here for the Provincial Schedule or here for the Standings

For the first time in over a decade, the Layritz 9-10 team is the reigning District champion!! Over two dozen boys tried out for the team, and twelve were selected to wear the black, green, and white uniforms of our park.
    The first game of the district tournament did not start out so well as timely hitting and defense by Central Saanich led that park to a 3-2 victory over Layritz. But the team vowed to fight back and that was exactly what they did. A mercy win over Beacon Hill was next followed bya crucial game
versus arch-rival Hampton. The team trailed 5-1 after two innings, but after a pep talk and a vow to keep fighting, the bats came alive and a 13-8 victory ensued. After defeating Lakehill, and previously undefeated Oak Bay, the battle for first place vs. Esquimalt was next. The game was never close and Layritz prevailed 17-7. Following a victory over National, Layritz finished the round-robin at 6-1 and in first place.
    The semi-final matched us up versus Hampton. Hampton pitched their ace, as did we, but they could not match the 1-2 punch of starter Evan Badry and reliever Tanner Hess. A 15-9 win for Layritz meant a matchup in the final versus reigning District champion Esquimalt. Both teams had used their aces in the semi-finals but we believed our depth of pitching was deeper than theirs and the boys proved us correct. Mitch Meek started and was fantastic and the offence staked him to a 5-1 lead after one inning. Credit to Esquimalt to keep battling and it was soon 8-4 after five innings. Jackson Schenk pitched well and Ben Goertzen was brought in during the sixth inning with the bases loaded and NO outs! A strike out, ground out to the pitcher, and finally to the shortstop, Tanner Hess, finished the game with the score 8-5 and Layritz was District champions and off to North Vancouver for the B.C. championships.
   The depth of the teams at the B.C. tourney was at another level compared to Victoria. AND THE WEATHER DID NOT CO-OPERATE. Mike Varley won the accuracy throwing competition on opening day to set us off properly. One bad inning in the first game vs. Hastings led to a 7-2 loss in what was a very well played game by both teams. A lopsided loss to eventual winner White Rock
and Layritz went into their off-day 0-2. Little Mountain was next and their ace pitched incredibly in a 8-4 loss for us. Needing a win, the defense stepped up HUGE in the next game versus West Vancouver. Starting pitcher Brennan Nazaruk and reliever Tanner Hess frustrated them all day and newly minted catcher Mike Potter threw out two runners at second base, including
the last out of the game. A surprising loss to Prince George left us in a must-win situation versus
Mt. Seymour if we had any hope of making the playoffs. I guess the boys understood the situation as they scored TEN big runs in the first inning en route to a 18-14 victory where both parks hit incredibly well. Did we mention the weather?? Due to two rain outs and the schedule being pushed back, most players and families were in the ferry line coming home on a late Sunday afternoon when a phone call came in that the right teams had won and Layritz had finished fourth in the round-robin. Frantic phone calls to work and all team members to organize travel vans
meant we were back at the ferry early the next morning for a semi-final game. We came out well and were tied 1-1 after two innings. We could not answer, however, the strong Mt Seymour bats and ended up losing 13-4. The boys made the coaches proud by battling to extend the game in the fifth inning and still fighting in the sixth inning. Eleven days in Vancouver was ALOT for the team to try and overcome and all parents were proud of how they battled, and especially how they conducted themselves on and off the diamond.
   Other players on the team making incredible contributions were Alex Nelson, Jeff Gable, Mason Carter,and Nolan Cathcart. If you want to call the team by their proper names however, they are 'Bulldog', 'Ice Man', 'M+M', 'Nazzy', 'Pudge', 'Shenker', 'Huckle', 'Jet', 'Whoa', 'Gambler', 'Carts', and 'No-Dog'.
   A special thanks to Mike Badry and Troy Carter for all their help with coaching and again to all parents for persevering in Vancouver and all their support during both tournaments.
   Dave "Daddy Bulldog" Potter and Randy "Daddy Ice Man" Hess
Click here for photos!

The 2007 9/10 Softball Tournament Team had a great tournament finishing 2nd in the District.
Click here for photos.

Layritz has defended its title at the Little League City Minors Baseball Championship, held this year at Esquimalt Park. The Miles Plumbing team defeated Esquimalt, Beacon Hill, and National by a combined score of 46-20 to win Pool A with a 3-0 record. Versus Oak Bay in the semi-finals, Layritz was again dominating, winning 15-3 to set up a championship game versus arch-rival Hampton, who was also 4-0 this far in the tournament.

In the final, a double by Dawson Hess and a superb effort by starting pitcher James Fraser helped stake Layritz to a 5-3 lead after two innings. Layritz actually won or tied each of the first five innings to lead 14-7 after five innings. But that is when things got interesting.

Hampton battled hard in the sixth inning and with one out in the inning, the score became 14-13 and a Hampton runner was on first base. The next pitch, the runner attempted to steal second base but after an unfortunate bounce or two, he ended up scoring to tie the game. HOWEVER, the umpire signalled for a lead-off, the tying run was taken off the board, and the runner was back to first base. The next pitch, catcher Jacob Potter threw the runner out at second base. Nolan Cathcart struck out the next batter and Layritz was city champions again!!

Coaches Randy Hess, Rick Nelson, and Dave Potter are very proud of Dawson Hess, Alex Nelson, Jacob Potter, Nick Parsons, Peter Underwood, James Fraser, Nolan Cathcart, Daniel Barrodale, Jeff Gable, and Adam Miller. This team finished the season as league, playoff, and city champions!! What a year it was!!

Layritz 2007 Tournament Page