Baseball players from Powell River joined Comox Valley Cardinals AA midgets for the annual River City Classic tournament in Kamloops over the May long weekend. Cardinals lost 8-0 to the host club in the championship game.
The team included six invited players from Powell River Minor Baseball Association: Ben Viglasi, 17, twins Carter and Keegan Chard-Hill, 17, Bailey Piccinin, 16, Ryan Ciarniello, 15, and Cody Johannson, 16. Six players from Comox rounded out the roster.
Second place was a respectable result in the five-team tournament, which required a long day of travel for the Cardinals to attend. Games were played in hot weather and featured a difficult round-robin schedule. The fact that players had no opportunity to come together for even one practice prior to the tournament added to the difficulty, according to Viglasi.
“It was just put us together and go play,” said Viglasi, who had six hits in 10 at bats during the tournament.
Viglasi plays multiple positions, as do most of the players on the team, including Piccinin.
“I played a bit of outfield, second base and I pitched,” said Piccinin, who also plays hockey but said he prefers baseball, a sentiment shared by Viglasi.
“It’s the simplicity of it, a slower game and more to concentrate on,” said Viglasi.
Summer baseball season begins in July and requires a significant commitment from Powell River players, beginning with practices.
“Once the summer season gets underway you’re busy three or four times a week and playing games on weekends,” said Cardinals coach Wendell Keirstead. “It’s tough on them.”
Piccinin and Viglasi said they wish there were more baseball opportunities in Powell River. A house league of three teams made up of midget and bantam-age players exists because not enough players are registered locally to separate the divisions.
Viglasi has travelled to Vancouver Island to play baseball for the past three years, resulting in a lot of travel by ferry, he said.
During his rookie season with the Cardinals, Piccinin also indicated that travel is one of the difficult aspects of playing baseball in another community.
“Everything is so far,” said Piccinin, “but there’s not enough people here to get anything going.”
