The Delta Blue Jays are reminded about Ray Carter every time they step onto the field at Winskill Park. Now they will attempt to win a national championship named after the longtime Tsawwassen resident and Delta Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
The regional rep team will be representing B.C. at the Ray Carter Cup 15U national championships, starting Thursday in Saskatoon. Baseball Canada named the tournament after Carter in honour of his many years serving on the national organization’s executive, including nearly a two decade stint as president.
The City of Delta also named the senior diamond at Winskill after him, along with the street entrance into the park. Now the Blue Jays will try to become the first Delta team in tournament history to bring the Ray Carter Cup back to his hometown. They nearly pulled off the feat the last time the nationals were held in 2019, winning silver.
“A lot of people were talking to me about that,” laughed Blue Jays head coach Cam Frick in a recent interview. “In 2019, the field and street had just been named. It’s cool for the kids too. Sometimes they will see Ray sitting behind home plate at our games and they would ask ‘who is that guy there?’ and I would tell them this is his field.”
The Blue Jays secured their trip to Saskatoon by capturing Baseball B.C.’s 15U national qualifier held earlier this month in South Surrey. They won three straight games in the single knockout event, capped by 10-6 triumph over B.C. Premier Baseball League (BCPBL) rival Whalley Chiefs. That came after a thrilling 3-2 win against B.C. Minor’s Chilliwack Cougars in 10 innings. It was highlighted by some clutch work on the mound from Hunter McLean, Jake Fehr and Brodie Tse.
Delta has been a model of consistency all season, finishing second in the BCPBL Bantam Prep regular season with a 35-11 record, then falling to the league champion Langley Blaze in the BCPBL playoff final. Now it’s off to Saskatchewan with additional help from Chilliwack’s Ian Vandepol and Langley’s Luke Laird to bolster the Jays’ 16-player roster.
The team has been running optional practices leading up to the trip, which has allowed players to enjoy some holiday time with their families in what has been a hectic summer. Many players also participated at last month's B.C. Summer Games in Prince George.
“I am just super excited for the kids. For many of them, nationals are a once in a lifetime opportunity,” added Frick. “Just the whole experience of it, aside from being on the field, is awesome too. Just getting to fly there as a team which is really cool. You get to wear British Columbia jerseys instead or our regular ones, stay in a hotel together and then there’s the opening banquet.
“To be honest with you, my expectations weren’t super high for how we would do the last time we went to nationals. It was an unknown to me being my first time there, but we showed we could hold our own against anyone and I’m pretty confident heading into this one.”
The Jays roster also features: Lucas Holt, Desmond Tregaskis, Noah Farnden, Smyan Billing, Jimmy Mellios, Kotaro Kawai, Nathaniel Kolmel, Sawyer Shears, Ivan Simbulan, Brayden Abenojar, Connor Fischer, Ed Wilde and Nathan Reynolds.
The Jays will open the 11-team tourney against Quebec on Thursday morning. Scores can be found on Baseball Canada’s nationals website.
