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British Columbia Premier Baseball League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
British Columbia Premier Baseball League
SportBaseball
Founded1995
CEOTed Hotzak
No. of teams13
Country Canada
Most recent
champion(s)
White Rock Tritons
Most titlesNorth Shore Twins (7)
Official websitewww.bcpbl.com

The British Columbia Premier Baseball League, commonly referred to as the BCPBL or the PBL, is a competitive youth baseball league consisting of 13 teams located throughout British Columbia, Canada. Over the years, the BCPBL has served as a talent pipeline for Major League Baseball as numerous BCPBL players have been selected in the Major League Baseball entry draft and gone on to have successful careers in professional baseball.

League History

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Known as the Island Premier Baseball League when it was founded in 1995, the league originally included only five teams, all from Vancouver Island: Victoria Investors, Victoria Selects, Mid-Island Canadians, Nanaimo Pirates and the Parksville Royals. Although these five teams had been playing exhibition games against teams from the Lower Mainland, only in 1999 did the league officially expand to include six new teams: North Shore Twins, Vancouver Mounties, Coquitlam Reds, North Delta Blue Jays, White Rock Tritons, and Abbotsford Cardinals.[1]

In 2000, the league expanded once again by adding two more teams: the Whalley Chiefs and Penticton. Later that year, the league changed its name to the British Columbia Premier Baseball league to reflect its new membership.

In 2009, the PBL would again expand, by bringing a team back to Vancouver known as the Vancouver Cannons. In 2010, the PBL board has granted a second PBL franchise to Victoria, known as the Victoria Eagles. Also the team formerly known as the Kelowna Cubs became known as the Okanagan Athletics in the 2010 season.

Teams

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Teams City Home Field Founded
Abbotsford Cardinals Abbotsford Delair Park 1997
Coquitlam Reds Coquitlam Mundy Park 1977
Langley Blaze Langley Macleod Athletic Park 1999
Mid-Island Pirates Nanaimo Serauxmen Stadium 1995
North Delta Blue Jays Delta Mackie Park 1995
North Shore Twins North Vancouver Parkgate Park 1999
Okanagan Athletics Kelowna Elks Stadium 2004
Parksville Royals Parksville Inouye-Wallace Field 1995
UBC Thunder Vancouver UBC Thunderbirds Baseball Stadium 2018
Victoria Eagles Victoria Lambrick Park 2010
Victoria Mariners Victoria Henderson Field 1995
Whalley Chiefs Surrey Whalley Stadium 2000
White Rock Tritons Surrey South Surrey Athletic Park 1993

Notable alumni

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Several well known ballplayers have played Major League Baseball:[2]

† active player

Many well known ex-BCPBL players have gone on to have successful minor league baseball careers:[3]

Past champions

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Year Champion Runner Up Most Valuable Player
2001 White Rock Tritons Abbotsford Cardinals
2002 Nanaimo Pirates White Rock Tritons Tyler Williams (North Delta Blue Jays)
2003 White Rock Tritons Langley Blaze Devon Franklin (White Rock Tritons)
2004 Victoria Mariners Coquitlam Reds Michael Saunders (Victoria Mariners) and
Shawn Schaefer (Coquitlam Reds)
2005 Langley Blaze North Delta Blue Jays Jordan Padrinao (North Delta Blue Jays)
2006 Langley Blaze Fraser Valley Chiefs Alex White (North Delta Blue Jays)
2007 North Shore Twins Nanaimo Pirates Sam Armstrong (Coquitlam Reds)
2008 North Shore Twins Langley Blaze Oscar Rodriguez (Coquitlam Reds)
2009 North Shore Twins Fraser Valley Chiefs Zak Miller (Langley Blaze)
2010 Victoria Mariners North Delta Blue Jays Adam Cessford (Victoria Mariners)
2011 Langley Blaze Coquitlam Reds Kevin Biro (Parksville Royals)
2012 Okanagan Athletics North Shore Twins Aaron Horanski (Langley Blaze)
2013 Victoria Eagles Nanaimo Pirates Brandon Feldman (Victoria Eagles) and Riley Edmonds (Victoria Eagles)
2014 Langley Blaze North Shore Twins Ryan Matsuda (Vancouver Cannons)
2015 North Shore Twins Nanaimo Pirates Tyler Duncan (Victoria Eagles) and
Matteo Vincelli (North Shore Twins)
2016 Abbotsford Cardinals Victoria Mariners Indigo Diaz (Coquitlam Reds) and
Nick Seginowich (Victoria Mariners)
2017 North Shore Twins Parksville Royals Michael Stovman (Langley Blaze) and
Jason Willow (Victoria Mariners)
2018 Abbotsford Cardinals Langley Blaze Kayden Beauregard (Abbotsford Cardinals) and
Jon Gale (Victoria Mariners)
2019 North Store Twins Mid Island Pirates Adam Maier (North Shore Twins)
2021 Langley Blaze Victoria Eagles Tom Poole (Langley Blaze)
2022 North Shore Twins Victoria Eagles
2023 UBC Thunder Parksville Royals
2024 White Rock Tritons Langley Blaze Ben McKinnon (White Rock Tritons)

References

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  1. ^ BCPBL: League History Retrieved on 23 December 2009
  2. ^ Vancouver Sun: Baseball's homegrown heroes Archived 2012-11-07 at the Wayback Machine 26 September 2008
  3. ^ BCPBL: League players in the MLB Draft Retrieved 23 December 2009