The St. Albert Cardinals are on the rise in the Norwest Midget AAA Baseball League.
Last year’s silver medallists at the provincial Tier 1 and U18 Western Canada championships are undefeated in five games after knocking off SEEBA 1 4-3 Wednesday at Legion Memorial Park.
“We’re all striving to get better and we’re all doing that. We’re getting better and we’ll come together as a team at the end of the year,” said third baseman Tylor Jans, who batted 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the cleanup spot against SEEBA (3-1).
Dylan Gates twirled a four-hitter while striking-out four, walked two, hit two batters and stranded five runners. Two runs were earned. His pitch count totaled 58 strikes and 28 balls.
The Cardinals scored runs in four consecutive innings before SEEBA replied with three runs on two hits and one error in the sixth.
Two SEEBA pitchers combined for five strikeouts and three walks.
Connor Bronson singled twice as the Cardinals collected seven hits overall and left seven runners on base.
Peter Corrigan led off the second with a walk, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored the team’s first run on an error with two outs.
In the third, Damien Obrigewitch tripled with one out and scored as Jans, the next batter, grounded out.
Bronson’s second hit of the night scored Joe Karall from third with two outs in the fourth to make it 3-0.
Zach Froment doubled to start the fifth and with one out scored on Jan’s single.
“It was one of our better efforts because it was a really important game we needed to win against former teammates,” said Jans, a member of the St. Albert-based Prospects Academy, featuring several players and coaches from the Cardinals and SEEBA.
“Our pitching was one of the bests of the year. We put some hits together and came up clutch when we needed to. Defence held it up too.”
Last weekend the Cardinals won three and lost one in non-Norwest games in Okotoks. Scores were 10-9 against the Okotoks Dawgs White, 1-0 against Saskatchewan, 16-5 against Saskatoon and a loss of 17-7 to Langley.
“We played three good games and one not so good game. We had a lot of errors in that game,” Jans said.
This weekend the Cardinals host Dawgs White (2-3) in league action at 12 and 3 p.m. today and 10 a.m. Sunday.
“They like to grind it out. They find ways to put runs on the board. They’re a hard working team,” said Jans.
The six-foot-one righty pitched against Dawgs White in his second start of the season for the 8-2-1 overall Cardinals.
“I like to go to my fastball, just get ahead in the count and then my curveball and both my changeups have been working well for me right now,” said the Grade 11 Bellerose Composite High School student.
Jans, 16, is being counted on to contribute at the plate and on the mound after making the jump last year from the bantam AAA Cardinals to the midget AAA team.
“Last year I started off a little rough and not getting many hits and then as the year came on I started getting my stuff together and I started playing like all the older guys,” said one of 10 returnees from the 2015 team that finished 24-13 in league, provincials and westerns combined.
“That experience is helping us get to where we need to be at the end this year.”
