The St. Albert Tigers out-slugged the Parkland White Sox in Friday’s 10-6 home opener in the Sunburst Baseball League.
Highlighting the second win to start off the season was the father/son combination of Kevin and Lane Hardman in the Tigers’ starting line at Legion Memorial Park. Kevin was the designated hitter and Lane was the catcher.
Longtime Sunburst officials believe it’s the first time a father and his son played on the same team in the same game in the senior AAA circuit.
The Hardmans hit back-to-back in the order and in their second at-bats stroked singles to ignite a rally.
Lane, the No. 7 hitter, batted 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored and Kevin was 1-for-2 and scored once.
John McHugh, Evan Hoffman and Jessy Beley finished with two hits apiece. Beley drove home three runs and McHugh had two RBIs.
Brad Macuch, Jared Roddelt, Alejandro Garcia, Matt Rindero and Matt Hammond combined on a nine-hitter. Roddelt earned the win and Hammond the save in the nine-inning affair.
The Tigers banged-out 14 hits and left 11 runners on base.
Parkland stranded eight runners and committed two errors.
Monday the Tigers played the Confederation Park Cubs (0-1) at John Fry Park but the score was unavailable at press time.
The Tigers started the season with a 5-0 decision against Parkland (0-3) in Spruce Grove.
The red-hot St. Albert Cardinals are undefeated in eight games to start the Norwest Midget AAA Baseball League season.
The Cardinals also improved to 7-0 at Legion Memorial Park after defeating Okotoks Dawgs White (2-6) three times last weekend.
The team’s overall record is 11-2-1.
Tylor Jans tossed a four-hitter over six innings and Spencer Dronkelaar posted the save in the 5-4 win. Jans struck-out three and walked two. He was tagged for three runs in the second.
The Cardinals scored five times in their first at-bat. They collected three hits overall, compared to seven for Okotoks.
Both teams left four runners on base and each committed an error.
A five-run top of the seven by the Cardinals sealed the deal in the 13-6 victory.
It was 2-0 Okotoks when the Cardinals tacked up a six-spot on the board in the third.
The Cardinals out-hit the visitors 9-3 overall and committed two errors, one less than Okotoks.
Cole Seitz, Ross Supruniuk, Tom Leathem and Joe Karall took turns on the mound, with Supruniuk earning the decision with a two-hitter over five innings. Supruniuk surrendered two runs, fanned three and walked four.
Okotoks stranded 10 runners and the Cardinals left six aboard.
Anthony Owen batted 2-for-3, Pratt drove in three runs and Erik Sabrowski scored three times.
Owen, Jans and Pratt each stroked a double and Conor Bronson tripled once.
Errors were three for Okotoks and two for the Cardinals.
The last game featured a four-run sixth by the Cardinals in the 7-3 win.
Zach Froment started and gave up three runs on six hits over five innings. He struck-out three and walked three.
Dronkelaar tossed two innings of relief and issued one hit and one walk while fanning two.
An eight-hit attack was led by a pair from Peter Corrigan and Bronson. Sabrowski went yard once, Danny Tkachyk and Corrigan both doubled and Brinson added a triple.
Okotoks was credited with three errors and the Cardinals had one.
Both teams left six runners on base.
The next league game for the 2015 provincial Tier 1 and U18 Western Canada silver medallists is May 25 versus SEEBA 2 (0-3) at 6:30 p.m. in St. Albert.
St. Albert is one of 145 locations across Canada for the Blue Jays Honda Super Camp, July 11-12 at Legion Memorial Park.
The Blue Jays Baseball Academy, in partnership with Baseball Canada and Little League Canada, is hosting the instructional camps for male and female players nine to 16 years old. The instructors are Blue Jays alumni and former Major League Baseball all-stars.
The cost is $99 for the one-day camp and $199 for both days.
Online registration is through the Blue Jays Baseball Academy at toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/tor/baseball_academy/.
Visit www.stalbertbaseball.com for more information.
