It was a sweet repeat for St. Albert Cardinals Red at the Baseball Alberta midget AA Tier I championship.
The Cardinals successfully defended their provincial crown with a 12-2 mercy-rule victory over the Lacombe Dodgers on Monday in Strathmore.
It’s believed to be the first midget AA repeat in Baseball Alberta history.
“You never know which one is harder to win, the first one or once you’ve won to get back there and do it again so it was a different feeling this year,” said Jason Enright, head coach of the 46-5-1 Cardinals. “This year we were more dominated as far as our wins. We had a lot more mercy wins in provincials this year and really took care of business early. Last year was the typical Hollywood tied game, two out, bottom of the seventh, bases loaded and we won (5-4 over the Olds Spitfires). This year we had two mercy wins in the last three games, so less stressful but it was still special nontheless.”
The Cardinals, seeded first in the eight-team tournament, posted victories of 8-3 against the Strathmore Reds, 9-4 against Camrose Cougars Red, 12-2 mercy win against the Leduc Giants and 5-0 against the Barrhead Orioles in the semifinals before sealing the deal in five innings against Lacombe, the seventh seed.
Mitch King tossed a one-hitter in the final after Tanner McLean-Poll gave up one hit against Barrhead, seeded second. Both players are over-agers and are ineligible, according to Baseball Alberta rules, for the Western Canada Baseball AA Championships next weekend at Legion Memorial Park.
“They were easily the top two pitchers in midget AA for last year and this year. It was always an ace in our pockets to be able to put those guys on the mound,” Enright said. “Losing them is a challenge. Hopefully some of the players we’re able to recruit from a pitching standpoint can be close to or give us a chance and again with a stronger offence we should be able to be OK.”
The Cardinals had 14 players on the roster for provincials and can dress 18 for westerns.
Last year the St. Albert Minor Baseball Association hosted the U18 midget, U15 bantam and U13 peewee westerns and in the midget final the Cardinals suffered only their ninth loss in 55 games, 7-1 to the Oak River (Man.) Bearcats.
“Last year we had a great run and lost to a very, very good team in Oak River,” Enright said. “The boys this year are just going to relax and enjoy the tournament. Last year some of our boys didn’t get to enjoy the whole environment of it because it was obviously stressful to say the least for most of them being there for the first time but I think it’s going to be a little more relaxed atmosphere.”
Westerns will feature teams from Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the host Cardinals in each of the three AA divisions.
“It was great last year and our experience going through it will make it even better,” Enright said. “Obviously we’re all hoping and praying Mother Nature cooperates this year. Last year was a little bit chilly and kind of put a little damper on some of the festivities.”
The Cardinals have a stronger lineup than last year, which bodes well in turning silver into gold at westerns.
“There was five different players from last year than this year but overall just the maturity of our returning players definitely made us a stronger team overall,” Enright said. “Last year it was a very special team but this year most of the boys were third years versus second years so just a little bit more dominance as far as offensively. We were able to put up a lot more runs this year than we were last year, which definitely helped. We had a lot more closer games last year than we won. This year, we had a few more games where we won easier.
St. Albert Cardinals Blues swept the provincial diamond at the Baseball Alberta mosquito AA Tier IV championship last weekend at Legion Memorial Park.
The Cardinals finished 4-0 after defeating Sherwood Park Athletics Green 14-4 in Sunday’s final.
The Cardinals also defeated the Edmonton Padres 18-1, Edmonton Angels 15-5 and the Grande Prairie Reds 6-5.
The Cardinals were 12-12 going into their second tournament of the season.
The mosquito division consists of players 10 and 11 years old.
Visit www.stalbertgazette.com to view the team picture.
