The British Columbia Premier Baseball League, commonly referred to as the BCPBL or the PBL, is a competitive youth

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

league consisting of 13 teams located throughout

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Over the years, the BCPBL has served as a talent pipeline for

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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

Known as the Island Premier Baseball League when it was founded in 1995, the league originally included only five teams, all from

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

: 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 The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...

, 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. 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

Notable alumni

Several well known ballplayers have played Major League Baseball: *† Nick Pivetta (Victoria Eagles) *† Rowan Wick (Vancouver Cannons and Whalley Chiefs) *† Jared Young (Okanagan Athletics 2013) *† Tyler O'Neill (Langley Blaze 2013) *

Larry Walker Larry Kenneth Robert Walker (born December 1, 1966) is a Canadian former professional baseball right fielder. During his 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals. I ...

(Coquitlam Reds), MLB Hall of Famer * Michael Saunders (Victoria Mariners) * Justin Morneau (North Delta Blue Jays 1999) * Brett Lawrie (Langley Blaze 2008) * Ryan Dempster (North Shore Twins) * Jeff Francis (North Delta Blue Jays 1999) * Taylor Green (Parksville Royals) * Rich Harden (Victoria Mariners) * Adam Loewen (Whalley Chiefs) * Scott Mathieson (Langley Blaze) * Aaron Myette (Whalley Chiefs) * Kevin Nicholson (Whalley Chiefs) * James Paxton (North Delta Blue Jays 2006) * Rene Tosoni (Coquitlam Reds) † active player Many well known ex-BCPBL players have gone on to have successful

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

careers:BCPBL
League players in the MLB Draft
Retrieved 23 December 2009 * Cole Armstrong (Whalley Chiefs) * Shawn Bowman (Coquitlam Reds) * Leon Boyd (White Rock Tritons) *

Kellin Deglan Kellin Lee Deglan (born May 3, 1992) is a Canadian former professional baseball catcher. He was drafted out of R.E. Mountain Secondary School in the 2010 Major League Baseball draft by the Texas Rangers. Career Texas Rangers Despite not being ...

(Langley Blaze) * Bryan Dumesnil (Nanaimo Pirates) * Jordan Lennerton * Kyle Lotzkar * Jared Mortensen * Vince Perkins (Parksville Royals) * Jimmy Van Ostrand * Terrance Dayleg (Whalley Chiefs)

Past champions

References

{{reflist Baseball in British Columbia Summer baseball leagues Baseball leagues in Canada Base Sports leagues established in 1995 1995 establishments in British Columbia