The U15C Alberni Valley Blazers are headed to the provincial fastpitch championships in Richmond next month after defeating Oceanside Rage 2-0 in their best-of-three playdowns, June 14, 2025 in Port Alberni.
The Blazers won the first game 20-2 and the second 11-0 to earn their trip to the provincials July 4-6.
"We tend to be the stronger team in most of our games, but the girls have worked really hard to get to that point, so I'm really proud of them," Blazers coach Matt Auerbach said.
"The time they've put in has paid off."
Auerbach said his squad is new, having only played one season together. "They've meshed really, really well."
The U15C Blazers comprise one 14-year-old, seven 13-year-olds and five 12-year-olds. "It's also out of the ordinary to have that young of a team," he said, adding that they have gelled well. "Since it's U15 that would usually be made up of 14- and 13-year-olds.
"To have five 12-year-olds, it's a pretty young team."
Auerbach said pitchers Raina Saucedo and Tessa Auerbach had good games on the mound. "The pitchers were fantastic."
"All around, (the players) had good hitting, aggressive base running, got the outs when we needed to get the outs."
Saucedo agreed they both had strong games.
"We had good defence behind us while pitching," she said. "I'm very excited" about headed to provincials.
Coach Auerbach has already put together a schedule for the Blazers to practice and keep their skills up as they wait for provincials. They were slated to play the U17-20 Nanaimo team on June 17. On June 22 they planned to host Campbell River's U15C team for a doubleheader. "They're out of our district so we haven't played them a lot."
He's also reached out to the U20 Alberni Blazers and hopes they may be able to play a few innings with them as well.
