Rain washed out the Tigers Baseball Association tournament for the second straight year at Legion Memorial Park.
The 29th annual tournament was cancelled after a downpour on Saturday night soaked the fields and formed a pool of water around the beer tent.
It also cancelled the 8 p.m. pre-game ceremonies marking the 40th anniversary of the St. Albert Minor Baseball Association.
Last year the rain put an end to the last two days of competition.
"It's too bad about the rain because it's a tournament you want to win. A lot of good teams come here," said Tigers' pitcher/infielder Craig Tomas. "It's a good kick off to see how your team comes together. It's good competitive baseball in a short amount of time. You see how your pitching staff can fare through a tournament weekend and how all the other guys can do."
Friday night the Tigers doubled the Parkland White Sox 8-4 in the tournament opener that was halted twice because of rain.
Right-hander Matt Hammond started against Parkland to earn the win.
"Hammond pitched really good. We just had one inning where we struggled a little bit defensively for him and they scored a few unearned runs," Tomas said. "It was just that one inning where we were a little lack on defence but other than that, overall we played a good game."
The next game for the Tigers was supposed to be against the Calgary Redbirds on Saturday night, but the Redbirds pulled out on the eve of the tournament. It left the organizing committee with five teams instead of six, forcing schedule changes.
The Tigers and Parkland were to play again Saturday night to see who would be seeded first and second in their division going into Sunday's crossover semifinals but the game was rained out.
Sunburst season
Weather permitting Thursday, the Tigers host Parkland at 7:30 p.m. in the Sunburst Baseball League. The first win of the season for the Tigers was last month's 10-8 decision against Parkland at Henry Singer Park.
"It was a good game. The whole line-up, one through nine, was hitting the ball hard all over the field," Tomas said.
The Tigers are 1-2 in league play, with losses of 11-3 in the season opener against the Riggers in Red Deer and 2-0 against the Fort Saskatchewan A's in St. Albert.
"In Red Deer they threw a pitcher that was in the majors' minor league system. He was a lefty and we battled against him pretty good. We stayed with him until I came in and pitched two innings. The last one kind of blew up and they started scoring runs on us but we battled with them all the way up to that inning," Tomas said. "Against the Fort we battled them all game too. Our defence was playing good, we just couldn't get any runs."
Last week the Tigers hosted the Red Deer Stags and in the bottom of the third inning the home team was in front 6-2 when the rain started. It will be rescheduled later in the season.
Tomas, 30, said the Tigers' record is misleading.
"Overall we're playing good baseball. We're 1-2 but we could be 3-0 or 2-1," he said. "We have good quality pitchers and our bats are coming around. In the last rainout game we were hitting the ball really hard."
Provincial qualifier
This year in the Sunburst league the top four finishers qualify for the senior AAA provincials instead of previous years when any team could enter the tournament.
"There are five teams in the league and only four teams make the provincials so every game matters now," Tomas said.
The Tigers hit rock bottom at last year's provincials, giving up 17 unearned runs in four losses.
Two years ago as provincial hosts the Tigers finished 1-3 after going 0-6 in 2009.
"It's a must win season now in the Sunburst league," Tomas said. "This year, right from the get-go, the best starting nine are playing. You have to work your way into the lineup now."
The former midget AAA St. Albert Cardinal and junior AAA Tiger was voted the Tigers' most valuable player last year. In the Sunburst league he led the team with a .478 batting average in 23 plate appearances. On the mound he was 3-1 with a 2.83 ERA. In 35 innings pitched, he struck-out out 21.
"To be nominated for MVP by the guys is quite an honour. That's why I keep coming back to this team. It's just full of great baseball players – young guys, old guys. Everyone is really good. They have great skills and they know their positions," said Tomas, who pitched in relief three times this year when he wasn't patrolling second base.
