The bantam AAA St. Albert Cardinals finished the Tier I provincials with one win in four games last weekend in Okotoks.
The five-team draw started with a 6-5 loss to the Sherwood Park A’s.
The Cardinals’ demise was stranding 10 runners on base.
In the bottom of the seventh the Cardinals had the tying run on base when Nate Brisson was hit by a pitch, but could not capitalize.
Peter Corrigan and Dylan Gates had two hits and one RBI apiece. Tylor Jans also drove home a run.
The second game was an 8-4 loss to Okotoks Dawgs Black.
Ryley Fetter and Max Barclay-Ward chipped in with two hits apiece and Corrigan, Cole Seitz and Ross Supruniuk each had a hit.
The Cardinals rebounded to edge SEEBA 4-3 as Supruniuk allowed three runs on three hits while fanning four in 5-1/3 innings of work.
“Ross gave us the boost we needed. I think it was his best outing of the year,” said field manager Dave Maguire.
Supruniuk was pulled in the sixth after surrendering a walk and one hit.
“Ross threw 84 pitches and was starting to leave the ball up,” Maguire said.
SEEBA scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to erase a 2-1 deficit.
With one out in the seventh, Jeremy Gamracy walked, Corrigan singled and Barclay-Ward was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Gates and the only returning Cardinal on the roster delivered a two-run double.
James Robillard entered the game in the seventh and after inducing a pop-up for the first out, he issued a walk and the next batter hit a sharp grounder that Gamracy scooped up from his shortstop position to start a game-ending double play.
The last game was a 4-2 loss to the Spruce Grove White Sox. It was 1-1 in the third when the White Sox counted three and never looked back to advance to the bronze medal game, a 14-3 loss to SEEBA.
Corrigan, Gates and Anthony Owen collected two hits apiece. Gates also struck-out nine in 4-2/3 innings to bring his season total to 103.
In the final Sherwood Park knocked off the No. 1-ranked Dawgs Black 4-3.
In league play Dawgs Black (30-3) placed first, followed by SEEBA (24-6), White Sox (20-13), Sherwood Park (19-12) and the Cardinals (17-15).
The peewee AAA St. Albert Cardinals ran out of gas in the Tier I provincial final last weekend in Red Deer.
The Cardinals lost 9-6 to the Sherwood Park A’s in the final after going 3-0 in pool play against Red Deer, Calgary Cubs and SEEBA and defeated the Fort McMurray Oil Giants 10-8 in a grueling semifinal.
The A’s scored twice in their first at-bat and the Cardinals evened it in the bottom half of the inning.
It was 5-5 entering the fifth when the A’s regained the lead.
In the seventh, the Cardinals got the tying run in position by loading the bases but the rally ended as Nathan Reay, the A’s player of the game, pitched his team out of trouble to end the game.
In league play the A’s (26-4) finished first and the Cardinals (26-7) placed second in the seven-team standings. The Cardinals beat the A’s four times in seven meetings before the final.
In the semifinal against the Oil Giants a long ball by Kelton Libich tied it at two in the bottom of the first. The teams then traded runs in a seesaw battle before the Cardinals eventually took the lead in the fifth. Zach Froment closed the final four innings for the win.
The Cardinals will now join the A’s and the host Spruce Grove White Sox at westerns, Aug. 23 to 25 at Henry Singer Ball Park.
Legion Memorial Park is the home base for the Alberta Zone U15 Championship this weekend.
The Zone 5 team consists of 13 players, including Dylan Gates and Ross Supruniuk of the bantam AAA St. Albert Cardinals.
Zone 5 is pooled with Zone 7, Zone 4 and the always-tough Zone 3 (Calgary).
It’s the same pool of zones that competed at last year’s Alberta Summer Games.
Cardinals field manager Dave Maguire and assistant coaches Fred Mills and Mark Brisson round out the Zone 5 coaching staff.
Tonight at 8 p.m. Zone 5 plays Zone 6 (Edmonton) in a pre-tournament game at the Legion park midget diamond.
