The stage is set for the St. Albert Tigers to play their very best at this weekend’s dress rehearsal for provincials.
“We’re approaching the Red Deer Riggers’ tournament very seriously, like a pre-provincial tournament,” said Kurtus Millar, head coach of the senior AAA Black Tigers and vice-president of developmental operations for the Tigers Baseball Association.
The Baseball Alberta championship starts Aug. 5 in Fort Saskatchewan. The last provincial title for the Tigers was in 2007, their first since 2004.
“There is no reason why we shouldn’t compete, it’s whether or not our bats are going. That’s been our biggest problem the last few years — no offence,” Millar said of the team’s 1-3 showing last year as tournament hosts after a winless stint at the 2009 provincials.
This year the Tigers averaged 5.2 runs per game while going 5-9 in the Sunburst Baseball League. Only the junior AAA Orange Tabbies, winless in 12 games, averaged fewer runs than the Tigers at 1.4 in the five-team standings.
“We’ve struggled so bad offensively. It’s almost like we’re pushing it too hard right now. I think we just need to relax and get back to the basics,” Millar said. “We’re making good contact but for the life of us we can’t get a hit with runners in scoring position. We can load the bases all day long, it’s just getting a run in. I don’t know what it is. We must have [upset] the baseball Gods or something like that because we can’t get a two-out hit that’s for sure.”
At the recent Kamloops International Baseball Tournament, the Tigers got skunked three times: 6-0 by the Everett Merchants and Seattle Studs, the eventual tournament champions, and 11-0 by the Kelowna Jays.
“We go there with a club team and we should actually be going with an all-star team. There are semi-pro teams there like the Seattle Studs and Alaska and Washington,” Millar said. “Matt Rindero threw a great game against Seattle [five earned runs on 10 hits over six innings] and defensively our guys were awesome, just offensively we didn’t score a run in three games. It was rough.
“We basically go there to see the pitching and it was phenomenal. The lefty we saw from Seattle was disgusting [tossed a two-hitter and struck out eight Tigers in seven innings]. It’s Roscoe [veteran Tigers’ southpaw Dave Ross] in his prime down there.”
In Red Deer the Tigers are pooled with the Riggers and the Calgary Redbirds. The Fort Saskatchewan Athletics, Red Deer Stags and Calgary Gunz also play a round robin. The top teams meet in the crossover final. The winner pockets $1,200.
Two of the Tigers’ five wins in the Sunburst circuit were notched against the Riggers (7-7), the 2010 provincial champions. Fort Saskatchewan (14-1), the 2009 national gold medallist and last year’s provincial finalists, swept the Tigers in four games.
“It’s weird. Fort Saskatchewan struggles against the Riggers and the Riggers sort of struggle against us. I don’t know what it is but Fort Saskatchewan in my mind is the team to beat,” Millar said. “The only reason the Riggers are not number one in my books is because they only have two or three great pitchers, whereas every guy in the Fort Saskatchewan line-up is tough to hit.”
The last league game for the Tigers was rained out and cancelled Tuesday against the Tabbies.
Millar described the team’s Sunburst performance as “lacklustre” this year.
“We’ve had some good games. We should’ve beaten the Fort twice. We should’ve beat the Riggers every time [2-2 record] but it’s should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.”
Last year the Tigers finished fourth out of five teams at 5-6.
“At this stage I would say yes, we’re better than last year. We’re stronger mentally,” Millar said. “We’ve also picked up some young blood this year, which is nice. Kyle Hesse [6-for-21] and Scott Boersen [5-for-12, four RBIs] are two young kids from Ontario and they give us a little bit more speed in the line-up.”
FOUL BALLS: The last game for the Tabbies was an 18-2 loss to Fort Saskatchewan last week in St. Albert. The developmental team is expected to play in the North Central Alberta Baseball League next year.
The offensive leaders for the Tigers in Sunburst action included Danny Mikitka (10-for-21, .476 BA), Craig Tomas (7-for-18, six RBIs, .389 BA), Jessy Beley (5-for-13, six RBIs, .385 BA), Brandon Barr (11-for-37, .297 BA), Luc Riopel (6-for-21, .286 BA), Dan Curtis (7-for-26, .269 BA) and Brad Wolansky (11-for-42, .262 BA).
On the mound, workhorse Sean Maguire (2-2, 20 strikeouts, 5.71 ERA in 21.67 innings) and the steady Tomas (2-1, 14 strikeouts, 3.00 ERA in 27 innings) combined for seven starts.
