The Early Bird weekend for the host St. Albert Cardinals is a dress rehearsal for when it matters the most on the diamond.
The first tournament of the season sets the stage for provincials for the midget AA, bantam and peewee AAA and AA and mosquito AA teams.
"It's definitely a good way to get us set up for the provincial tournament. Obviously that's what we're playing for," said Sean Erickson, head coach of the bantam AAA Red Birds. "It kind of gets the guys in that mindset of the round robins and how we're going to set up our pitching. It will be a good experience for that."
The six-team bantam AAA draw started Friday night, weather permitting, between the Cardinals and Camrose Cougers at Legion Memorial Park.
Today at 3 p.m. the Cardinals play the Sask Five Giants.
The crossover playoffs start Sunday at 3 and 6 p.m. and the top teams in pools A and B advance into Monday's semifinals at 9 a.m. and noon. The final is 3 p.m.
"We're going to come out and try and take the title in our own tournament and I think we're in a pretty good place to do that. We can pitch, we can play defence and as long as the hits come then I feel the wins will come with them," Erickson said. "But more than anything it's just the opportunity come out to our fields, they're in pretty good shape, and represent our association and show everybody why St. Albert is a great place to come and play baseball."
The Cardinals are 7-3 overall after their third win in a row in Wednesday's 16-6 mercy-rule decision against the visiting Sherwood Park Athletics.
Five players are back from last year's team that went undefeated at the Early Bird and finished 33-19 overall as the Tier 2 provincial champions.
"It's been good so far. We've been pitching the ball really well," said Erickson, a former assistant coach with the midget AAA Cardinals who took over the bantam AAA team when longtime dugout boss, Dave Maguire, retired to the West Coast.
"However, we've had a couple of injuries. Our starting shortstop, Michael Brisson, is out with an ankle injury for a little bit. He is one of the top players in the province. It weakens the squad but it also gives us a chance to give some guys a position they might not be playing right now otherwise, which will in turn make us stronger down the line."
Batter up
The Early Bird, a staple on the Baseball Alberta tournament calendar, features 47 teams in six divisions and the Cardinals are represented by 10 teams.
Ninety games are scheduled for the Legion and Meadowview diamonds and Stony Plain.
Monday's finals are 1 p.m. for peewee AA and peewee AAA at Legion park and 3 p.m. for mosquito AA and bantam AA at Meadowview and bantam AAA and midget AA at Legion park.
Visit www.stalbertbaseball.com for schedules and results.
FOUL BALLS: The midget AA Cardinals Red team, winner of the last two Early Bird tournaments, went into Friday's tournament opener against the Edmonton Angels. The score was unavailable at press time.
Cardinals Red is the defending Tier 1 provincial champion and U18 Western Canada silver medallist while going 46-9 overall on the season.
The St. Albert Minor Baseball Association is hosting westerns for the second year in a row. The Aug. 12 to 14 tournament features teams from Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, plus the host Cardinals in the U18 midget, U15 bantam and U13 peewee divisions.
