Baseball player Sean Anderson turns just 15 this month, but he is already very familiar with the feeling of medals being placed around his neck.
He has been part of five gold-medal winning teams in B.C., beginning in 2018 as a member of Salt Spring’s U11 AA team, which won provincial championships in a Comox tournament.
“That was pretty exciting and kind of the taste of it all for us,” recalled his mom Jenn Anderson last week.
Most recently, his Victoria Eagles Bantam Premier team, which competes in the B.C. Premier Baseball League (BCPBL), won gold at the BCPBL Bantam Provincial Championships in Victoria, which wrapped up on July 28.
A BCPBL website summary described the Eagles’ gold-medal run this way: “How do you sum up the Victoria BTM Eagles run to the 2024 BCPBL Bantam Provincial Championship? One word. . . Wow! The Eagles, with their backs up against the wall, needed to win a playoff game versus the Whalley Chiefs to get themselves into the semifinals versus perennial powerhouse and defending national champion, the Delta Blue Jays. Not only did they take their first game of the day against the Chiefs by a score of 10-3, they then faced the Blue Jays and came out on top 5-1. Wow. They were not done. In their third game of the day — yes, their third game of the day — the Eagles faced a tough UBC Thunder squad and got the 3-0 win. Twenty-one innings later, the Eagles were named 2024 BCPBL Bantam Provincial Champions.”
A week earlier, Sean was one of 16 members of the Vancouver Island-Central Coast (VICC) 15U team that won gold at the BC Summer Games in Maple Ridge. He had enjoyed the same result in 2023 on the 14U VICC squad when they earned a BC Summer Games gold medal in Richmond.
Also in 2023, his AAA Bantam Cowichan Valley Mustangs team came from being seventh in their league to winning provincial championships in Kamloops.
Jenn said the last couple of years have been “a whirlwind” of games, travelling, excitement and making great connections.
“We have met so many amazing kids and so many amazing parents,” she said. “We’ve seen so much of our province that we otherwise never would have seen, and we’ve built quite the community. It’s like your second family.”
Sean’s parents were in a slo-pitch league on Salt Spring when he began playing ball at the age of three. Once in the coach-pitch division, Sean was recognized as being a strong athlete with the ability to play with older boys. He was still nine when his U11 Salt Spring A’s team won their provincial title.
Like everyone, he had a hiatus from team sports through the Covid pandemic, but by 2021 was looking for a more competitive experience and found it with the AAA Peewee team in the Cowichan Valley. That began the routine of regularly commuting off-island for both practices and games, which continues today. Sean’s dad Dennis Anderson also works off-island, so Anderson family members are always on the move.
Last year he made the switch to the Victoria Eagles, when there were not enough players to form a AAA Bantam team in the Cowichan Valley. He now plays second base, shortstop and pitches. Jenn said her son hopes to play with that team again next year, with tryouts slated for later this month.
Jenn said that despite all the travelling, time, cost and commitment involved, “We’re just trying to support Sean the best we can.”
“It’s a small window in our lives. It’s memories that we will have for the rest of our lives. So we’ve accepted it, and we’re okay putting everything else on hold. We’re here for our kids. So that’s what we focus on.”
Sean also plays basketball at Gulf Islands Secondary School, and has been asked to join the volleyball team as well.
“And he loves golf,” added Jenn.