Right now, Corner Brook is basking in the glow of a group of 13- and 14-year-olds who will be providing plenty of sporting heroics for years to come.
Multi-sport stars like Ryan Harnett and Daniel Foo, just to name a couple, appear to be able to take on anything and come out smelling like roses.
Sometimes pure athleticism can be turned into an elite player in just about any sport, and there are at least half a dozen other young athletes in the city right now who are proving that.
The latest accomplishment for these teenagers is a provincial bantam baseball title, claimed here at Jubilee Field this weekend. After taking in a few innings of ball, it was easy to see these young guys are the class of the field in this province.
Foo, who spent the summer on the province's provincial basketball team, completed a no-hitter tossed by Harnett to down the St. John's Capitals for the title this past holiday weekend.
These two can also be seen racing up and down the hardwood all winter long, two of the most talented basketball players on the island.
As I looked around the diamond, I quickly realized these group of friends have what it takes to excel at everything they do. Jay Warford, Daniel McCarthy, Zach Taylor, and Nathan Burt are a few more of the Barons who don many different jerseys throughout the year.
The city's pride of the diamond have already represented the province on the national stage, the pee wee championship last year. Now, they will be back at it next summer in Ontario for the bantam nationals.
Congrats boys. I, for one, am looking forward to all you will bring to this city for years to come.
Senior shame
It wasn't all rosy on the diamond this past weekend though. The Monarchs senior team ended an awful year with a default loss in their semi-final series against the Aces Sunday. What a miserable way to end the year.
I was told the executive wouldn't grant them a postponement of the game when they requested one. The Monarchs knew they would struggle to have enough players to field a team on the Sunday of Labour Day weekend, yet the game went ahead.
With six players on the field, their season came to an abrupt and catastrophic conclusion.
That is no way to end a baseball season, and the executive should have done all it could to ensure the series was decided on the field. No matter how late the year is getting, this should never happen. Shame. Another poor decision by the baseball execs, and more proof they have to get their playoffs going earlier in the summer.
