9-10 Team – District 1 Champs – 2nd in B.C. !

Our board would like to congratulate the members of our 9 & 10 and 11 & 12 year old all-star teams, and the Henderson and Ritchie tournament teams for representing DLL so well, and trusts that the positive experiences and memories from being on these teams shall last a life-time. Of the four DLL tournament teams, the one that enjoyed the most success on the diamond was our 9 & 10 year old team, which is made up of players from our Majors and Minor A divisions. The 2009 edition of this team was particularly young, as only 6 of the players were from our Majors’ division, while historically about 10 players have been selected from Majors. Led by Manager Dave Hemer and Coach Joe McDermott, and assisted by Ken Lim, the young DLL squad embarked on many practices and exhibition games to gain as much experience as possible ahead of the District 1 Championships, which started on Canada Day at nearby Carnarvon Park.

D1 Champions

As Little Mountain would be hosting the Provincial Championship, and as such had a bye into the BC’s, the key was to defeat Jericho and Kerrisdale, which is exactly what our team did, culminating with an exciting 8-2 win over Jericho in the fi nal, attended by many current and alumni DLL families. The young DLL team’s play improved with each game at the districts, and the players had wonderful chemistry and skill which were instrumental in their success.
At the BC’s, the free-wheeling DLL team shocked many be opening the tournament with a 12-10 win over Hastings. By the conclusion of the round robin the team was 3-2 and had earned a berth into the semi-finals, albeit against a talented and powerful White Rock team. In what may go down as one of the most exciting tournament games ever played by a DLL team, our young team shocked many (except themselves), and defeated White Rock 16-10 in front of a huge DLL crowd. This thrilling victory meant our team would be
in the provincial finals against Hastings, who had defeated a talented Little Mountain team to also advance to the championship game.

Dunbar 9-10 2009

In that final game, our DLL team gave it all they had, but our hits kept finding the Hastings’ fielders’ gloves. At game’s end it was 11-3 for Hastings who earned their 1st provincial title (and later in the summer their 2nd BC title with the success of their 11 & 12 year old team). While disappointed with the championship game score, our players and coaches should be very proud of what they accomplished in the magical summer of 2009, as are all of us here at Dunbar Little League.