The effort was there, but not the result as a 7-2 loss against the Richmond Chuckers ended the South Okanagan Minor Baseball Association Tigers best season.

"To get that extra game in when you didn't realize you had to play was difficult to get up for," said Tigers coach Junior Deleon, whose team finished seventh in provincials after playing in the morning. "For what it was worth they played well. We didn't know we were playing that game (8 p.m. start) until about 6 p.m."

The Tigers needed a 2-1 record for a chance to play for a semifinal berth in Victoria and they got it. The Tigers defeated Tri-Cities 10-7 with Ryohei Ito and Dustin Houle getting the job done on the mound. The Tigers lost Game 2 against Vancouver 12-2 and won their opening match against the Chuckers 4-3.

Deleon said he felt his team's performance was "flat out awesome."

"To have to win our third game against Tri-Cities it showed a lot of character," he said. "A really scrappy team when it came down to it." The Tigers coach views provincials as a positive experience. He liked that his team gelled at the right time and received solid contributions from the bantam players.

In a season which they finished 19-21 after starting 7-2, Deleon said there wasn't anything to not like. It was their best season for wins and they placed second in their host tournament. Deleon felt his team played well when they had to, but admitted they had some bad breaks that cost them wins. The most positive thing is the talent coming up after losing Ian Rehbein, Tyler Andrew and Dustin Houle.

"To have almost a .500 season with a team with two seniors, is a lot to look forward to," he said.