It was a fitting end to a storybook season for the Penticton Tigers.
The 15U AAA baseball team, after dominating regular-season opponents with a 43-1 record and winning back-to-back provincial titles, captured the 2025 Western Canada Championship title thanks to a 13-2 thumping over the Saskatoon, Sask., hosts Aug. 17.
"Nerves were flowing, myself included, but we love playing the game and having those feels because it only means it's important to us," Tigers head coach Thurman Matthews said about leading his team into the event. "It was a blast competing against those teams."
Penticton started its playoff run in late July, marching into Chilliwack and claiming the city's second straight 15U AAA provincial title.
The good times kept rolling one weekend later when the Tigers booked their spot in the Saskatchewan-hosted Western Canada Championships, doing so at a national qualifier tournament, also in Chilliwack.
"I'm a big believer in setting goals, and we talked about going somewhere beyond provincials all season long," Matthews said of taking the team to Saskatoon. "That's what it was really all about for our guys, getting the chance to represent both the province and Penticton at the same time. It was an indescribable feeling."
The U15 Tigers took home one of 12 medals won by B.C.-based minor baseball teams this summer.
"Congratulations to all teams, players, coaches, and families that participated in these championships over the past few weeks," a statement from BC Baseball reads. "We wish you all the best and look forward to what 2026 holds."
Along with leading Penticton to Western Canadian glory on the diamond, Matthews also won some individual accolades in 2025.
A strength and conditioning coach when he's not in the dugout, Matthews took home BC Minor Baseball's 15U Coach of the Year honours this past winter.
He was joined by fellow South Okanagan Minor Baseball Association (SOMBA) coach Josh Snider, in winning a year-end provincial award. Snider took home the same honour, but in the 18U division.
"Josh and I have been working really hard since 2019 at making baseball kind of a thing in town here," Matthews said. "I was happy that we got the share (the awards) and experience together. That's what really made it special for me."
Matthews, who grew up in Edmonton, played collegiate baseball in Walla Walla, Wash., before an injury forced him to return to Alberta.
He later moved to the Okanagan, around 2018, where he met Snider and began working with SOMBA.
"Baseball is a little bit dominated on the coast here in B.C., at least that's what I was told when I moved here, so it's really cool just to prove to people that if you work hard at something, you can make a lot of stuff happen," Matthews stated. "I'm just so proud to be part of this journey with the players and families that have been along for the ride."
Matthews says he looks forward to guiding the Penticton-based 15U AAA club again in 2026. Most of his players next spring, he explained, will be new to his program as they graduate from lower age divisions.
