Offensive explosion in Okotoks for Reds
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Tyler Lowey Photo
After nearly picking up four wins by the mercy rule in their first weekend of Baseball Alberta action, the Reds turned it up a notch to close out the first round of seeding in their schedule.
The Reds opened the weekend with a sound 10-3 victory over the Chestermere Crushers May 26 in Okotoks.
The Crushers played the Reds tight for the first four innings, as the score was tied 3-3.
Eventually, the Reds broke through in the final three innings, where they managed to scratch across seven runs.
Scott Desserre came through in the clutch in the top of the fifth, as the Reds loaded the bases with two outs. The catcher ripped a 0-2 offering into centre to plate Kaden Wilson and Mitch Desserre. Nolan Bigstie, who singled earlier in the inning, came around to score on a passed ball, to make it 6-3.
The pressure was applied again the next inning when Wilson ripped a grounder to right field to score Hunter Biskup with two outs.
Patience paid off in the top of the seventh, when Andrew Ericson and Biskup were hit by pitches and Ryan Orford drew a bases-loaded walk to score Scott.
Defensively, the Reds kept the Crushers at bay after the first inning by Biskup striking out four in five innings, followed up by the tandem of Wilson and Ryerson Rushford combining for two shutout innings to close things out.
The bats were awake despite the early start May 27 against the Calgary Cubs, as the Reds pounded out 15 runs in the fourth and rode to an easy 25-3 victory.
Mitch was a monster at the dish, as he highlighted the offensive outburst by going 3-for-3 with a pair of dingers and recorded an impressive eight RBIs. He also crossed home plate four times.
Every member of the Reds — starters and subs — managed to score at least one run in the lopsided win.
Even though they gave up three runs — all unearned — the duo of Orford and Aidan Cockx combined to throw a one-hitter in five innings and struck out five.
The Reds wrapped up the weekend with their cleanest game of the weekend, as they only made one error on defence and blanked the Olds Spitfires 6-0.
Luke Schramm opened the game with a leadoff triple in the bottom of the first and was cashed in on a lofty hit to centre by Wilson. The Reds took a 3-0 lead with Mitch Desserre scoring on a fielder’s choice and Wilson scoring on an error to the shortstop.
Wilson turned in three RBIs in his best offensive game of the weekend, while Colby Tanton and Carson Polet added two hits each.
Once again on the mound, the Reds held the opposition to one hit. This time, it was Tanton and Wilson who teamed up to blank the opposition. Tanton went five strong innings, striking out seven, and Wilson pitched two perfect innings to close things out.
Bantams battle in final weekend of Round 1
The same offensive production was not shared with the bantam Reds 1 program, who dropped all three games last weekend.
The weekend started off in heart-breaking fashion, as the Lethbridge Bulls walked off the Reds in the bottom of the seventh to claim the 9-8 victory.
Eight of the nine Reds scored one run, as they melted away a 6-2 lead at one point.
The Reds batted around in the fourth to score five runs, but only managed two more in the remaining three innings, as they couldn’t slow down the Bulls offence.
Leadoff man Tyson Dmyterko was nearly unstoppable, going 4-for-5 at the dish, while Ray Warrack and Nolan Metzger picked up three hits each.
The Reds wrapped up competition May 26 by dropping another close one to the host Foothills Outlaws 9-6.
The meat of the Reds order produced five of the six runs, as Jacob Galandy scored a pair while going 2-for-3 with a walk.
The Reds started their final game of the weekend May 27 as if their hair was on fire. The first four batters that came up all scored in the bottom of the first, but the momentum wouldn’t last throughout, as the Calgary Bandits eventually doubled them up 19-8.
Galandy produced a pair of runs in four plate appearances and picked up one hit along the way. Metzger and Warrack also scored a pair, as Warrack slapped a pair of hits and Metzger was 1-for-3 with a walk.
During the course of play last weekend, the Reds also saw their bench shorten to 10 players, after seeing Zach Tanton and Zack Stangess go down with injuries.
Locally, the second bantam Reds first experience with Kinsmen Park wasn’t a memorable one.
With nearly their entire roster making the jump up from peewee this season, it was their first taste on the bigger field in Strathmore.
“We’re still in the developmental stage of our season. It’s not about what we are doing now, it’s about what we’re building towards,” said Reds Head Coach Geoff Hall. “Errors cost us this weekend and that’s fine. We had a lot of guys playing positions that they have never played before.”
The Reds dropped all four games on the weekend: two to the Red Deer Braves and two to the Calgary Grizzlies.
It was looking bleak to end the weekend May 27 when the Braves were up 15-3 in the fourth inning with another mercy-rule loss threatening, but the Reds battled back and cut the lead to five in the fifth, before losing 22-15.
It’s having the resolve to battle back in the final game of a long weekend that has the coaching staff excited about what this team is capable of when Baseball Alberta realigns the layout of the second round of scheduling in the upcoming weeks.
The schedules for all Reds games in the second round of the Baseball Alberta schedule were released earlier this week and can be found on the Baseball Alberta website.