Courtney Sampson – WolfPack Baseball Communications
 
 The Canadian College Baseball Conference kicked off their annual national championships this morning (May 9th) at Kamloops, BC's Norbrock Stadium. The tournament, hosted by the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack, began last night (May 8th) with an all team, and family, barbeque and awards ceremony.  The evening was capped off by the home run derby, in the end TRU's own Cole Paquin took that title. 
 
Games began at 10 am today (May 9th), with the #4 ranked Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs falling in a 4-3 loss to the #5 Edmonton Collegiate team. Edmonton took the early lead, scoring one run in the top of the first, and three more in the fifth inning. Despite a solid effort by the Dawgs, scoring all three of their runs in the bottom of the ninth wasn't enough to take the "W". Brett Higgins (Edmonton, AB) was winning pitcher for Edmonton, throwing 8.1 innings, giving up 6 hits and striking out 3 batters. 
 
The games continue into the afternoon with the #3 University of Fraser Valley Cascades vs. #6 the University of Calgary Dinos at 1 pm. The game was not available on webcast as they played at Canada Games Field. Although the Cascades got the first two runs of the game in the fourth inning, the Dino's battled back with 3 of their own in the fifth, one in the sixth, and three more in the eighth. The Cascades final efforts were in vain, scoring two more in the ninth they fell to the Dino's in a 7-4 victory for Calgary. 
 
 #2 seed Okanagan College Coyotes squared off at 1 pm against the #7 Vancouver Island University Mariners as well. Scoring 9 runs in the first inning, freshman Brendan Luther (Etiobicoke, ON) had two of his four runs in the first inning. The Coyotes went on to score another 17 runs in the remaining 6 innings. Winning the game in a 26-0 shut out. Winning pitcher Wyatt Hummel (West Kelowna, BC) threw 5 innings for the Coyotes giving up only 3 hits. 
 
Winners of the 1 pm games, the U of C Dinos and the OC Coyotes took to the field at 4 pm. The Coyotes score 5 runs in a he first inning, setting the pace for their 12-1 win over the Dinos. Coyote's infielder Brett Luther (Etiobicoke, ON) carried over his momentum from the teams 1pm game, scoring 3 runs during their matchup with the Dinos. Pitching 5 innings for the Coyotes, Trevor Brigden (Toronto, ON) brought in the win for their team, striking out 6 and giving up only two hits. 
 
At 7 pm TRU WolfPack took the mound against Edmonton Collegiate, playing in front of their home crowd. The WolfPack got off to a bit of a slow start, allowing Edmonton to take a 5-0 lead in three innings. The fifth inning saw Edmonton take their sixth and final run if the night, as well as the 'Pack battle back tying up the game with six run of their own. One and two more runs were scored by TRU in the sixth and seventh innings respectively putting the games final score at a 9-6 win for the #1 seed WolfPack.
 
The WolfPack will be back in action at 1 pm Saturday, May 11th however, the tournament will continue Friday, May 10th with the remaining six teams playing games. The schedule and game results can be found on the CCBC website. Spectators are encouraged to come out to watch the games, weekend passes can be bought through eventbrite.ca and those who are unable to attend can stream all games played at Norbrock stadium through the WolfPack baseball TV link.
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