The St. Albert Cardinals are flying to westerns after finishing third at the bantam performance Tier I provincials last weekend in Okotoks.
At the five-team tournament the Cardinals, Spruce Grove White Sox and Okotoks Dawgs Black had identical 3-1 records after round robin action. In the tiebreaker, Spruce Grove advanced to the final and the Cardinals played Okotoks to determine the second playoff team.
Nick Cardinal, one of the best bantam pitchers in the province, scattered six hits while striking out five Cardinals in the 10-0 win. Austin Watamaniuk had two hits for the Cardinals.
Okotoks went on to beat Spruce Grove in the final.
Spruce Grove and the Cardinals will represent Alberta at westerns, Aug. 16 to 20 in Regina.
In the provincial opener against Spruce Grove, Watamaniuk led off the game with a home run, but it was the only run the Cardinals would score in the 9-1 loss. They were held to six hits by Spruce Grove’s two best pitchers, Jakob Melville and Joe Pascal. Jackson Wark struck out seven in a losing cause.
The next game was the 17-12 slugfest against Okotoks. Cam Mazur, Tyler Schwendeman and Dylan Gates cleared the fences for the Cardinals. Schwendeman’s blast was a grand slam.
Erik Sabrowski was solid in 4-1/3 innings of work, allowing five hits while striking out six. Gates entered the game in relief with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth and shut out Okotoks the rest of the way.
Tanner McLean-Poll was the first star in the 13-0 victory over Okotoks Dawgs Red with a perfect game in the five-inning mercy rule decision. He faced the regulation 15 batters and didn’t allow a hit or a walk. Only three balls were hit out of the infield. Mitchell King recorded five assists at second base. Watamaniuk and Sabrowski stroked three RBIs apiece.
The Cardinals closed out the round robin with a 17-1 mercy-rule thrashing of the Fort McMurray Oil Giants. Matt Quartel paced the offence with three hits. Riley Fisher and Mazur also chipped in with two apiece. Jakob Brinkhof tossed a three-hitter and fanned three batters.
The Cardinals are 37-10 overall going into westerns.
The St. Albert Senior Cardinals host their annual 30-plus and 45-plus tournament this weekend at Legion Memorial Park and Footz Field in Edmonton.
The 30-plus division features Camrose, Westlock, Stony Plain, Edmonton Heat, Slave Lake and the Cardinals.
Saturday in pool B the Cardinals play Westlock at 8:30 a.m. and Slave Lake at 11 a.m. at Legion park. The final is 4 p.m. Sunday.
The Cardinals are ranked second at 12-3 in the Alberta West Central Baseball Association. Westlock is first at 14-3.
Spruce Grove, Red Deer, Can-Alta and Slave Lake are competing in the 45-plus division.
The peewee AA St. Albert Cardinals are raising money to travel to Cuba for a series of exhibition games, sightseeing and cultural awareness in February.
The Cardinals will play three similar-aged teams in Varadero, Matanza and Havana.
St. Albert minor baseball teams also visited Cuba in 2004 and 2008.
The first of several fundraising ventures by the Cardinals is Saturday’s bottle drive. Donations of bottles can be dropped off at the Legion Memorial Park parking lot between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
As in previous trips, the Cardinals will be donating baseball equipment to the Cuban players and their coaches, as well as school supplies.
