Dad surprises pitcher son, BC to play for gold

Justin Olic (Surrey), a crafty southpaw was today’s starter against Alberta. Unknown to him, his father Frank Olic flew in to watch the him play. After working the 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM shift Frank jumped on a plane in Vancouver to Fort McMurray.

When asked why, he said “Why not? How many chances do you get to see your kids play at this level”.

Rhys Cratty (Langley) and Dawson Gray (Surrey) scored on a triple from Stephen Horner (Vancouver) providing a 2-0 lead after the first inning.

The lead was short lived however as Alberta came back and scored 3 at the top of the second inning. Two base hits and an obstruction call on the third base line, lead to the runs. Cratty made a leaping grab to end the inning and the Alberta rally.

The Alberta starting pitcher walked five straight batters, walking in 2 runs and leaving the bases loaded with no outs.  Alberta then went to the bullpen. After the pitching change Cade Smith (Abbotsford) singled in a run and Niko Millas (Burnaby) hit a sacrifice fly to get the lead at 6-3.

Olic gave up a run on a walk, a single and a ground rule double. The score was 6-4 after 3 innings.

Rhys Cratty showing off his athleticism made a great catch and turned a double play to help get BC out of the inning. Olic pitched 6 strong innings and left with the lead at 6-4 in BC’s favour.

Noah Or walked and Dawson Gray hit a triple to drive in a run, adding some padding to the lead and making the score 7-4. Cole Dalla-Zanna, one of the team’s leaders came in, in the 7th for the save.

Frank Olic flies home tomorrow at 7:00PM after watching BC in the gold medal game and great experiences for both father and son.