Zone 2 players head home champions

Times Reporter

 

August 12 kicked off the three day Alberta Zone Championships in Red Deer. Strathmore Reds AAA midget head coach Zane Anderson was the assistant coach for the Zone 2 team, which had local bantam ball player Logan Crooks on it. The team won the championship, bringing home the gold.

“We were not the number one seed going in so, it was sort of an upset which was nice. We were the underdogs,” said Anderson.

“We beat (the) Calgary Zone in the semi-final. We weren’t expected to win that, but we played really good, had good pitching. Then in the final we were down by three runs going into the last inning, and we scored four to win it, so it was pretty exciting.”

“It was good, the boys played well. It was the first time since 2005 when a lot of the old Strathmore Reds played on that team and won it, so it was a pretty big deal for them,” said Jim Crooks, who was there as a parent observer. 

Crooks coaches the Reds AA bantam team, and was there to watch his son Logan play in the Championships. Logan played all over the place during the championships, pitching a few innings, playing first base, even manning right field.

“Logan played pretty good. I think he played with the Strathmore bantam team all year so it was sort of a jump up in competition but he handled it pretty well I thought,” said Anderson. 

“Logan enjoyed it thoroughly. When he got home he realized he has to work on his hitting. There is a good chance he’s probably going to go to Arizona in December to a baseball camp down there for five days,” said Crooks.

Crooks said it was a good tournament, and that Logan met some new friends, and played some good ball players.

“We had a pretty good group of kids, there was no complaining about playing time, and everybody was a good teammate. (A) good team atmosphere for the Zone championship team,” said Anderson. 

He said he thinks they are going to try to keep the same coaching staff for next years Alberta’s summer games, which Logan had been a part of last summer and hopes to return to next year. 

One thing Anderson would like to see different for next year would be more practices, but said it can be tough for a team like the Zone 2 team. By the time all the teams are done with provincial championships the zones, or summer games are pretty much the next weekend.

The season isn’t quite over yet for some ball players. The selection process is just beginning for Team Alberta prospects that will compete in the Prospect Series versus Manitoba and Saskatchewan, in Swift Current, Saskatchewan Sept. 1 to 5. The top 20 players from the Zone Championships will be picked to be on the team. Anderson said he is one of the assistant coaches for the Team Alberta, and will also be a part of the selection process.