Reds open the season in Cheadle

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

It was a gorgeous weekend for the return of baseball to the Wheatland County. The Strathmore Reds had difficulty duplicating results that matched the weather during the first weekend of the season.
The bantam Reds 1 were the only local team to host the first weekend of Baseball Alberta action, when they took on the Calgary Bandits May 5 at Fair Field in Cheadle.
The Reds used six different pitchers to get through seven innings of a 10-4 loss to the hands of the Calgary Bandits to open the season.
“The first couple of games were a little rusty even more than most years because of the lack of outside practice time that was available this year with the snow sticking around so long,” said Reds Head Coach Jon Rilling.
Crossing the plate for the first time this season was Connor Neufeld, who singled to start a rally. Adam Kirkpatrick and Johnathan Rilling walked and later came around to score that inning. Rilling would also cross home in the seventh on a wild pitch.
The Reds dropped the evening affair back at Fair Field, this time to the Calgary Cardinals, 11-8.
A single by Kobe Gosling and a double by Nolan Metzger were sandwiched by walks to Tyson Dmyterko and Rilling, as the Reds hung five runs in the third inning.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough o topple the Calgary squad that were lead by starting pitcher Dylan Fries-Abel, who recently won the Most Valuable Player award for the Wheatland Athletic Association bantam Warriors.
The Reds dropped their third game of the weekend 14-4 to the Lethbridge Bulls May 6 at Fair Field.
Ray Warrack didn’t register an at bat, but recorded an RBI and scored a pair of runs on a couple walks. Rilling was in the same boat, as he earned two walks and one bean ball that scored one run.
With Connor Cockx on the mound in the fourth, his was done in by three straight errors to open the inning, as the Bulls cashed in four more runs.
The Reds ended the weekend on a high note, as they cooked the Chestermere Crushers 20-7.
Leading the way were Jacob Galandy, Cockx, Warrack and Kirkpatrick, who each scored three runs, as the Reds pushed across 13 runs in the second. There were also seven different hitters that picked up at least three hits.
The Reds will participate in a tournament in Calgary during the long weekend and head to Okotoks to resume league play the following weekend.
The bantam Reds 2 didn’t get off to a great start in their first weekend of Baseball Alberta season last weekend in Hanna.
A couple early season errors and mental mistakes led the Reds to an 0-3 start with losses to the Lethbridge Jr. Academy, the Hanna Hornets and the Foothills Outlaws Blue.
Off this weekend, the Reds will resume action with a tournament in Calgary on the May Long Weekend.
The lone midget team enjoyed themselves in Brooks last weekend, as they coasted through the round robin stage and came home with a silver medal.
“It was a great weekend and good to see everyone play outside again. We were missing some guys for some of the games, so we had some other kids playing out of position, but I thought we managed to play well,” said Reds Assistant Coach Darren Cockx. “Some of those other teams like Brooks have already played eight times outdoors. That makes a big difference in opening weekends like this. We certainly have some things to work on now.”
The Reds started the weekend with a bang, by blasting the Cardston Cougars 15-1. Up next, they ran into the Brooks Bombers, who appeared to be in mid-season form, and lost 17-4. Closing out the round robin, the Reds disposed of Vauxhall Spurs 16-4.
The Reds ran into the Bombers again in the finals May 6 and battled back from an early 5-0 deficit to tie it 5-5. In the sixth, the Reds couldn’t keep the Bombers down for long and surrendered another three runs to eventually lose 8-6.
The scene now shifts to Kinsmen Park when the Reds host the Foothills Outlaws Orange at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. May 5. The following day, the Reds will host the Olds Spitfires back at Kinsmen at 11 a.m.