Yesterday proved to be a busy, yet successful day for the Nat Bailey faithful, as well as the Lewis-Clark State Baseball team.

UBC’s baseball team lost their opening round game Thursday, before staying alive on Friday with a grand slam by Senior Mike Styrna.  They then, however, lost to College of Idaho Friday night, ending their 2008 season on home turf.

COI advanced to the final, where they faced Lewis-Clark State on Saturday.

VANCOUVER — The Lewis Clark State Warriors jumped out to a big lead in the first inning and never looked back on their way to winning the Region 1 championship by a score of 15-4 over the College of Idaho Coyotes.

With one out in the bottom of the first, LC state went on a rally that saw six straight Warriors reach base and five runs come in. That would be all the offence they needed to win the Region 1 title, as the
Coyotes were held to four runs off seven hits in five innings of work by Warriors starter Blaine Hardy, with Justin Mace throwing four no-hit innings in relief to seal the deal.

LC state finished with 17 hits, including at least one hit in every inning but the sixth. All but two of their starters registered at least one hit in the game, with Mike Rivera’s four hit performance leading the team.

With the win, the Warriors have earned the right to host the Super Regionals, which get underway on May 15 in Lewiston, Idaho.

So once again, Lewis-Clark State pulls away with the Region I title.  It’s bad enough they get an automatic berth into their own NAIA World Series, but why do they have to compete in Region I?  It sucks if you’re a UBC fan.

Many good things came out of this season, though.  Scott Webster and Senior Fletcher Vynne each cranked five home-runs, and DH Ryan Pilgrim hit four, with a few years still left at UBC, and Seniors Matt Chester (who went out injured a few weeks ago) and Mike Styrna (Grand Slam Friday) found their groove, hitting .350 and .336 respectively.  They combined for 50 RBI and four home-runs as well as 21 extra-base hits.

The future looks bright, with Pilgrim, Ben Torrie, Jon Syrnyk, Alex White, Scott Webster, Sammie Starr, Craig Leebosh, Jordan Pandoff, Bob Foerster and a handful of others (such as Sean Everest, Mike Elias, Nic Lendvoy and Nic Lindsay) all scheduled to come back next season on offence.  On the hill, there wasn’t one ERA below 4.28, and one starting pitcher who hadn’t given up a home-run. Taylor King was injured for most of the season, which was a very bad thing, but he should be back next year.

Saturday was also a big day for the Canadians, who hosted a job fair, National Anthem tryouts, and it marked the first day for buying single-game tickets.  Here’s how Jason Takefman summed up the day’s events:

All aspects of yesterday’s festivities were excellent: Our Job Fair and National Anthem tryouts attracted a lot of returning and new faces, our field crowned a champion (not the team we wanted, but a champion nonetheless), and fans ensured they got the best seats for all the big nights. Granville Island Brewing Opening Night Fireworks, Dayton Boots Hall of Fame Grand Opening with Rock Raines, and ‘The Hitman’ on July 10th were the most popular game choices.

Tons of great seats still remain for these games, but buy yours sooner rather than later.  You don’t want to be turned away at the door like hundreds of fans at last year’s Opening Night.