Matt Quartel had the best seat in the house to watch Connor Burns pitch a shutout at Henry Singer Ball Park.
The St Albert Cardinals’ catcher witnessed a complete game five-hitter by Burns in Wednesday's 4-0 win over Spruce Grove White Sox 1 in the Norwest Midget AAA Baseball League.
“He was spot on,” Quartel said. “He was hitting all of his spots and doing what he needed to do to get the W.”
Burns struck-out three for a team-high 22 on the season and didn't issue a walk as the second-year midget improved to 2-1 in Norwest action while lowering his ERA to 1.29 in 27 innings of work.
“His changeup was really working. He was fanning a lot of guys with that. It was probably one of his biggest pitches that night,” Quartel said. “He was pretty much pounding the zone and getting ahead in every count he got into too.”
Three pitchers combined on a two-hitter against the Cardinals while striking-out three and walking three, but a shaky defence was charged with six errors.
The Cardinals scored three times in the second inning and once in the fifth to improve to 10-7. The White Sox are 6-10.
Jake Fischer batted 1-for-2 with one run scored and one walk. Evan Loranger, Triffon Tatarin, Tyler Schwendeman and Quartel drove in runs.
“It was a big team effort. We used every at bat and brought runs in one by one,” said Quartel, who scored once and drew a walk.
It was the second victory against the White Sox in less than a week. At the 10th annual Peter DeVries Invitational Tournament the Cardinals scored the winning run bottom of the seventh to edge the White Sox 10-9 in the Badger pool.
The Cardinals finished 3-1 and their only loss was 12-3 to SEEBA 1, the tournament hosts who blanked the White Sox 8-0 in the final.
“Overall it was good tournament. We had one little slip-up in one game where we let them put up a big inning and at the end of the day it cost us in the tournament because we lost that game and on runs for and against we ended up (third in the Badger pool),” Quartel said of the Cardinals, who wrapped up the tournament with a decisive 15-1 victory against the Calgary PBF Redbirds in the consolation side.
In the Norwest pecking order the Cardinals are sixth after their third straight win and fourth in the last six games. They have 13 league games remaining before provincials start in early August.
“We’re ramping up pretty good. We have a tournament coming up in Idaho and that will be a huge growing experience for us and I think coming out of that we’ll be right on track for showing well in provincials, if not taking the whole thing,” Quartel said.
The Cardinals will see how good they really are when they host the first-place Calgary Dinos (18-1) in today’s doubleheader at Legion Memorial Park. Game times are 12 and 3 p.m.
Two weeks ago in Calgary the Cardinals fell 5-0 and 12-4 to the Dinos.
“We have a little bit of a battle with them now. They've beat us twice so it’s kind of like our turn to give them two losses so I think it’s our turn,” Quartel said. “We know what we’ve got to do and what we’re coming up against this time and we’re preparing to bring out our best game and do what it takes to win.”
Quartel, 16, is one of six first-year midgets on the 17-man roster from last year’s bantam AAA team. The catcher/outfielder is batting .184, with seven hits and five runs in 13 games played.
“Pitching is a lot better (than bantam) for sure,” said the Grade 12 Edmonton Christian High School student. “There is a big learning curve coming from bantam to midget but our coaches are really well experienced with their knowledge.
“It’s a lot funner in midget too. There is just a lot more pride among teams."
EXTRA BASES: Sunday’s doubleheader against the third-place Okotoks Dawgs Red (15-4) starts at 12 noon.
First baseman/outfielder Gray Symington leads the Cardinals with a .408 average in 15 games, along with 20 hits, seven doubles and 13 RBIs and 15 runs.
Burns has chipped in with 13 hits in 14 games and Tanner Karpinski has 11 in 12 games.
Outfielders Loranger and Tatarin share the lead in stolen bases with 11 apiece. Tatarin has also walked a team-high 11 times and is second in runs with 13, one more than Loranger.
