The Western Canada AA Baseball Championships are returning to Legion Memorial Park after the St. Albert Minor Baseball Association hosted last year’s midget, bantam and peewee tournaments.
The Aug. 12 to 14 westerns features AA teams from Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, plus the host St. Albert Cardinals in the U18 midget, U15 bantam and U13 peewee divisions.
Last year the Oak River (Man.) Bearcats defeated Cardinals Red 7-1 in the midget AA final. It was only the ninth loss in 55 games for the Baseball Alberta Tier 1 champions. This year, Cardinals Red is 10-0-1 overall with nine returnees, plus two players who moved up from last year’s Cardinals Blue team and one import from the Northeast Zone.
The Tri City (B.C.) Indians beat the Portage (Man.) Phillies 3-2 in the bantam AA final and the Cardinals were winless in four games.
The Coquitlam (B.C.) Moody Blues downed the Swift Current (Sask.) Indians 2-1 in the peewee AA final and Cardinals Red team finished 1-3.
The home opener for the St. Albert Tigers in the Sunburst Baseball League is Friday against the Parkland White Sox.
The first pitch is 7 p.m. at Legion Memorial Park.
The teams started off the season last weekend in Spruce Grove and the Tigers were victorious 5-0.
Starting pitcher Craig Tomas worked six innings and Brad Macuch tossed two innings in relief before the game was called after eight innings due to darkness.
Jessy Beley batted 4-for-5 with two doubles and Dan Curtis had two hits and drove home two runs.
Monday the Tigers play the Confederation Park Cubs at 6:45 p.m. at John Fry Park.
The St. Albert Cardinals resume their Norwest Midget AAA Baseball League schedule tonight at Legion Memorial Park.
Game time is 6:30 p.m. against SEEBA 1.
The 2015 Baseball Alberta Tier 1 and the Western Canada U18 silver medallists are 4-0 in league play.
Danny Tkachyk leads the Cardinals in hits with seven – five singles, one double and one triple – and Erik Sabrowski has batted in a team-high eight runs. Sabrowski and Tylor Jans have also homered once.
Zach Froment and Anthony Owen stole four bases apiece.
Last weekend in non-Norwest games in Okotoks, the Cardinals posted wins of 10-9 against the host Dawgs White, 1-0 against Saskatchewan and 16-5 against Saskatoon and lost 17-7 to Langley.
The Cardinals and Dawgs White hook up this weekend in St. Albert for league games at 12 and 3 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.
Tonight’s bantam AAA game between the St. Albert Cardinals and Parkland Twins starts at 6 p.m. at Legion Memorial Park.
The Cardinals are 3-2 in league play after winning two out of three games last weekend in Red Deer. The Red Birds knocked off the Calgary Cubs 4-3 and Okotoks Dawgs Red 12-1 and lost 5-1 to the host Braves.
Last year the Cardinals finished 33-19 overall after winning the Baseball Alberta Tier 2 championship.
