The White Rock Renegades '91 may have fallen to the high-powered – and high-budgeted – Worth Firecrackers in the finals of the Canada Cup's Futures Division Sunday, but coach Chuck Westgard was still quick to call the week a success.

Not only did the 1991-born team finish second to the Firecrackers – a Huntington Beach, Calif.-based club with a fulltime, paid coaching staff – but White Rock's '92 team also reached the semifinals of the U18 tourney. They lost to Westgard's squad by a 10-2 score Sunday afternoon.

In the women's division, two more Renegade clubs reached the finals of the North American division, with the junior Renegades defeated the seniors, 9-1. Sara Hopwood earned the victory in the pitcher's circle, striking out four in the five-inning mercy-rule shortened affair.

In the U16 Showcase tournament, the White Rock Renegades '94 finished in the top six in the 18-team field, despite being a year younger than most of the top clubs.

"It's been an excellent year, an excellent week for the association," Westgard said.

"It's really been a great tournament for us."

Westgard was not dismayed in the least by his team's 10-0 loss to Worth in the finals. Just two days before, the Firecrackers beat them 10-2. The two defeats were the only ones suffered by the '91s all week; they finished with an 8-2 record.

"It obviously didn't go as well as we would have liked, but they're just a little higher level than we are used to," he said.

"You can't get upset about it – they're just awesome, a very elite program. We haven't been beat like that all year – usually it's us putting that kind of beating on other teams."

Westgard's crew will have a chance to get back into the win column later this month, when the team travels to Port Alberni for midget provincials.

"I think we're probably one of the favourites, one of the teams to beat," he said.