Baseball P.E.I.'s growing success at national competitions 'a credit to all the players'

Baseball teams from P.E.I. have been busy over the last four weeks as teams have been competingin national championships with three of those teams competing last weekend.

This past weekend was just the third time in history P.E.I. won a medal at a national baseballchampionship with the provincial boys under-15 team snatching a medal in Oshawa, Ont.

"They defeated Manitoba in the bronze medal game," said Randy Byrne, executive director of Baseball P.E.I.

He said it was exciting because, "medals at national championships aren't all that common for P.E.I."

The last time P.E.I. won a medal at a baseball national championship was a bronze forthe under-15 boysteam in 2015.Before that it was a silver for the provincial senior men's team in 1977, Byrne said.

The P.E.I. girlsunder-16 team competed as well this past weekend and the boysunder-13 team almost brought another medal home to the Island.

"The provincial 13U team finished fourth at the national 13Uchampionship. They lost in the bronze medal game to Ontario," Byrne said.

Byrne said Baseball P.E.I. always sends teams to national championships, they compete hard each year and are becomingmore competitive with teams across Canada.

That experience paid off for at least three Island players.

"We had three Islanders picked up by the Chatham Ironmen," Byrne said.

P.E.I. players part of big win

Those three players are Jordan and J.P. Stevenson and Dillon Doucette.

"They won gold at the national seniormen's championship, so it's a pretty big weekend for Baseball P.E.I.," Byrne said.

He said the whole mindset of P.E.I. baseball teams competing in championships has changed.

"We're not just going there to hopefully do half-decent. We are going there to compete and hopefully win," Byrne said. He also said with larger talent pools to draw from in other provinces, P.E.I. does well in comparison.

"It's a credit to all the players."

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