It’s been an annual event on the St. Albert Tigers’ calendar every year but the downpour of rain put an end to the final two days of competition in last weekend’s tournament.
The Tigers Black were able to get one game in, but the effort was lacking in the 5-3 loss to the Parkland White Sox on Friday night at Legion Memorial Park.
“I’m not taking anything away from Parkland; they’re a great baseball squad but their pitcher never even needed to throw curve balls,” said manager Kurtus Millar. “Our guys were terrible at the plate. We couldn’t hit and we never got any kind of offence going until the fifth inning and by that time it was too late.”
Jamie Cameron threw six strong innings and Scott Hoekstra belted a three-run homer for Parkland, the top team in the North Central Alberta senior AA circuit at 7-1.
Jeremy Goodall pitched a complete game for the Tigers, allowing five hits while fanning two. Luc Riopel was the only Tiger to register a multi-hit game.
Going into the tournament, the senior AAA Tigers ranked fourth out of five teams in the Sunburst Baseball League at 2-3. Both wins were against the junior AAA Tigers Orange and the three losses were against the Fort Saskatchewan Athletics, the 2009 national champions and last year’s provincial finalists.
In previous years the Tigers finished 5-6 in 2010 and 8-6 in 2009.
“Our team has been in a rut for two years and it’s starting to get a little frustrating,” said Millar. “It seems like there is no desire on the team. We have a core of guys that are always good and ready to play but the rest seem like they’re not really into it. Maybe we need a change in coaching or the way we practice but something has to change.”
While the team is facing a trying time on the field, a few Tigers are stringing together solid seasons. Jessy Beley and Joe Carr are 12th and 13th in batting average at .385 and .375, respectively. Craig Thomas and lefty Sean Maguire have anchored the pitching rotation.
“We have three or four guys that are having great years but they can’t carry a 30-man roster,” said Millar. “It’s tough and the frustration on the bench you can cut with a knife.”
Having the chance of defending their tournament title taken away added a second element of frustration in the clubhouse.
“The last couple years that’s what kept us going because we won our own tournament. We had some momentum going into the rest of the season,” said Millar.
A stretch of five games over six days in Red Deer started Tuesday against the defending provincial champion Riggers, but the score was unavailable at press time. The Tigers also play the Red Deer Stags (5-1) twice Saturday and the Riggers (4-3) twice Sunday.
“We’re not playing a lot of games right now because of the rain and it’s affecting our pitching and our at-bats. We’re still swinging the bat like it’s our first game. We need to get more games in for sure,” Millar said.
The Tigers Orange dropped a narrow 3-0 decision to the Athletics in tournament action on Friday night. McLean Cruthers allowed only one hit through five innings of work. Keaton Cruthers and Taylor Simpson registered two hits apiece.
Back-to-back singles by Andy and Ben Herman to open the sixth inning rallied the Athletics to victory. Scott Koughan scattered six hits to gain the win.
The result shows the depth and confidence the juniors are building, according to manager Bob Cruthers.
“It’s another step forward for sure,” he said. “Every time out we are gaining more confidence. We did get six hits in the game so if we put a couple of those together we are going to score a couple runs.”
The team’s 0-8 Sunburst record includes a 13-0 thumping by the Athletics (4-0). The two teams were scheduled to play Tuesday in St. Albert but the score was unavailable at press time.
On Thursday the Orange visit the Stags at 7:30 p.m.
“We will try to stay positive and get back on track,” said coach Cruthers.
