The Fredericton Junior Royals capped off a fine season winning the N.B. Junior Baseball title, thus winning the right to advance to the 2013 Canadian Junior Baseball Championship to be hosted by the Dartmouth Juniors from Aug. 15-19.
The Royals, first place finishers in the competitive N.B. league with a record of 17-9, defeated the St. John Pirates 3-1 in the league finals. The Pirates had finished tied with the Moncton Cubs in second place with a record of 16-10. The Royals defeated the Chatham Ironmen (13-13) in the semi-final while the Pirates defeated the Cubs in a thrilling series, 3-2. The Royals gave up only 19 runs over the 4 games in the final and won 3 of the 4 games by a single run. The team also allowed the lowest run total in the regular season, just 94 in the 26 games.
The Royals join the Burnaby (B.C.) Collegiate Bulldogs as the teams declared for the national tourney to this point in time.
An interesting side note is that the Royals senior counterpart, the Fredericton Peterbilt/Dairy Queen Royals, won the N.B. Senior Baseball League crown, their 6th in 7 years, and will be heading to Windsor, Ont. one week after the junior tournament to play in the Canadian Senior Baseball Championship. Joining them will be the Dartmouth Moosehead Dry, the Dartmouth Juniors' affiliate club. The Dry benefited greatly in their successful playoff run because of the play of Junior call-ups Gary Strowbridge, Matt Doudelet, and Scott Lee.
