The midget AAA St. Albert Cardinals returned home with silver medals from the Western Canada Baseball Championship in Yorkton.
Sunday’s final was decided in the bottom of the 11th inning, when the Parksville (B.C.) Royals knocked home the winning run with the bases loaded for the 2-1 decision.
In the round robin, the Cardinals stranded eight runners in the 3-2 loss to the Royals.
Both teams were 4-1 going into the final. The Royals rattled off five wins after losing the tournament opener 7-6 to the host Parkland (Sask.) Expos.
The Cardinals posted wins of 11-1 against St. James (Man.) A’s, 6-1 against the Expos, 4-0 against the North Winnipeg (Man.) Pirates and 9-2 against the North West (Sask.) Pirates.
Two years ago, the Cardinals won westerns in Winnipeg after losing the Baseball Alberta Tier I final.
The 2014 Baseball Alberta champions and Baseball Canada U18 national silver medallists also lost this year’s provincial final 12-8 to Okotoks Black Dawgs in St. Albert despite leading 8-1 with six outs to go. A grand slam in the bottom of the seventh ended the game.
The Cardinals finished 24-13 overall in league, provincials and westerns combined.
The deadline to register online for the 13th annual St. Albert Fall Challenge is Sept. 17.
Visit www.events.runningroom.com to enter 21.1-kilometre half-marathon run/walk, 10-km run/walk and five-km run/walk on the Red Willow trails Sept. 20.
Early bird registration ends Monday at 11:55 p.m.
Kingswood Park is the race venue and the start times are 8 a.m. for the half-marathon walk and 9 a.m. for the half-marathon run, 10-km run/walk and five-km run/walk.
The .5-km kids’ race goes at 11:30 a.m. and pre-registration is not required.
There were 198 finishers in the half-marathon run/walk, 10-km run/walk and five-km run/walk last year compared to 275 in 2013.
Last year’s half-marathon winner was Chris Stone of Edmonton in one hour, 15 minutes and 24 seconds as 91 runners completed the race.
The fastest female was Reina Ainsworth of Edmonton at 1:30:33 for third place overall.
The Fall Challenge is sponsored by the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club.
Visit www.sva-club.com for more information.
To volunteer for the Fall Challenge, contact Christine at 780-904-4114 or [email protected].
A new season of junior B hockey starts Tuesday night, when the St. Albert Merchants open their training camp at Akinsdale Arena.
The Merchants have an exhibition on tap Sept. 4 against the visiting Spruce Grove Regals at 8 p.m.
The Blue/White intersquad game is Sept. 11. at 8 p.m.
League play begins Sept. 18, when the Merchants travel to Fort Saskatchewan to play the Hawks at 8 p.m.
The home opener is Sept. 20 against the Beverly Warriors at 8 p.m.
The Merchants are looking to fill at least 16 spots on their roster after finishing first overall at 32-6 before losing the fifth and deciding game on home ice in their quarter-final series against the Stony Plain Flyers.
Registrations are being accepted for the second annual Mike Mitchell Memorial Classic on Sept. 19 at the Raven Crest Golf & Country Club.
The shotgun start is 1 p.m. and dinner is served at 6 p.m.
Visit www.birdeasepro.com/MMMClassic to register online.
Proceeds from the tournament will support the Heart & Stroke Foundation.
Last year’s inaugural event featured 100 golfers and more than $2,000 was raised in memory of Mike Mitchell, a long-time employee of the City of St. Albert’s public works department and active member of the St. Albert Fraternal Order of Eagles, who died July 7, 2014 at age 56 of a heart attack.
The city recently renamed the recycling depot on Chevigny Street the Mike Mitchell Recycling Depot.
Contact Rob at 780-885-0733 or [email protected] for more information on the golf tournament.
