Penticton's under 15 baseball team is set to go the Western Canada Championships after a dominating season, and they're looking to get a boost from the community to help make the trip.
The South Okanagan Minor Baseball Association (SOMBA) Tigers U15 team qualified for the championships with their second place finish at the National Qualifiers.
In order to make it to the qualifiers in the first place, the team needed to finish at least third in the Provincials. The Tigers ended up becoming back-to-back Provincial Champions, on top of their 43-1 regular season record.
Many of the Tiger's current players were part of both Provincial champion teams, as were their coaches Thurman Matthews and Cole Marven.
The Tigers' fourth loss of the year, and only their third in the post-season, to three-time National champion Delta Blue Jays, meant that they would go on Western Canada Championships.
"It's a very big accomplishment because our team played in the AAA division all season, " said Pam Rutten, the team's manager. "It's very rare that the AAA teams would beat the other league, Premier Baseball League."
Now, the team of fifteen is set to make the trip to Saskatoon for their final tournament of the season from Aug. 14 to 17.
"They're super excited," said Rutten. "It was tough to accept the loss because they had high expectations for themselves, but now I think they've wrapped their heads around it, and their next goal will be to bring home the Western Canadian Championship banner. They're confident they can win it."
Once they arrive, they'll play a minimum of four games in the round robin against teams representing the Prairie provinces.
The trip comes with expenses, including gas costs and hotel rooms, and the team is looking to the community to help cover their costs.
The Tigers have set up a GoFundMe, , and they are also more than willing to accept any local businesses interested in sponsoring the trip.
Any business interested in sponsoring the team is asked to contact Rutten by emailing prutten8@gmail.com.
