The St. Albert Cardinals are up to bat Thursday against the first-place Stony Plain Mets in the North Central Alberta Baseball League.
First pitch is 7 p.m. at Centennial Park in Stony Plain.
Tuesday the fourth-place Cardinals (8-6, 83 RF/90 RA) hosted the Edmonton Primeaus (7-8) but the score was unavailable at press time.
The top four teams qualify for the best-of-three semifinals, Aug. 18 to 20 at Keller Field in Westlock, which is also the NCABL's 50th anniversary alumni weekend.
The best-of-three league final is Aug. 26-27 at Edmonton Professional Baseball Park.
The Mets (12-2), Edmonton Blackhawks (13-3) and Sherwood Park Athletics (11-3) are ranked ahead of the Cardinals in the pennant race.
Last year the Blackhawks swept the Mets in the championship playoff and the Cardinals finished at the bottom of the standings with three wins and 15 losses.
The defending U18 women's champions in the Edmonton Rugby Union scrum down Friday in Leduc.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. between the St. Albert Rugby Football Club (4-0) and Druids/Leduc (2-1).
Monday's score between SARFC and the host Pirates (0-4) was unavailable at press time.
The ERU playoffs start Aug. 11.
Last year SARFC lost only one match after six wins as the Helen Wright Trophy champions in the ERU went down to defeat in the provincial final 46-27 to Calgary Hornets Black.
Meanwhile, the U18 men (1-3) kick-off the playoffs Tuesday at 7 p.m. The opponent and field location had not been confirmed at press time.
Sunday at midnight is the online registration deadline for the 28th annual St. Albert Triathlon on Aug. 13.
Visit www.zone4.ca to enter the sprint distance (750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike and five-km run) or try-a-tri (250m swim, 10-km bike and 2.5-km run).
Registration for the sprint team relay is full.
The triathlon starts 7 a.m. at Fountain Park Recreation Centre.
Last year's triathlon featured 138 finishers in the sprint distance, 18 in the try-a-tri and the sprint team relay included six entries.
The winner was Ian Elm in one hour, two minutes and 16 seconds and the runner-up was Adeline Maunder at 1:05:12.
The triathlon is hosted by St. Albert Road Runners and Triathlon Club and is sanctioned by the Alberta Triathlon Association.
Volunteers can also register at www.starrt.com.
