Reds ready for provincials

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

Strathmore and the people involved in the mosquito Reds baseball program stepped up to the dish at the 11th hour and are hoping to hit provincials out of the park this weekend.
After the final tiering portion of the mosquito Baseball Alberta schedule, the team that was anticipated to host the Tier 5 provincial championship got promoted to Tier 4, leaving the rest of the five teams in the division high and dry for a provincial host.
“The short answer to how we got awarded the chance to host provincials is because we have some great parents on this team and they said they were in and stepped up,” said Reds Head Coach Jeff Stender. “Now we have a chance to win it at home.”
The first game of the tournament goes July 27 at the Strathmore agricultural diamonds, with games running throughout the weekend. The final — depending on if there are any tiebreakers — would tentatively go July 29 in the afternoon.
“The kids don’t really care if it’s at home or on the road. They are just excited to play for a provincial title. It’ll set in this week and they will get excited to have the chance to win gold in their own back yard,” said Stender.
Provincials couldn’t have come at a better time for the Reds, as they are playing their best baseball of the season and are 3-3 in their last two weekends of action. The Reds have also defeated all but one of the entrants in the tourney. The Camrose Cougars will enter provincials 1-5 in their last six. Their only win came against the Reds.
The midget Reds program won’t partake in provincials for another week, as they wrapped up their final weekend of Baseball Alberta play last week with a 1-2 record in Lacombe.
The weekend started off on a crushing note, as the Reds melted away a 3-0 lead, losing in the bottom of the seventh on a walk-off sacrifice fly to lose 4-3 to the host Lacombe Dodgers.
The Reds scored in the fourth when Mitch Desserre led the inning off with a walk. He eventually made his way to third with two outs and scored on a passed ball.
In the fifth, the Reds managed to push two more runs across when Hunter Biskup singled home Ryan Orford, and third basemen Scott Desserre scored first baasmen Biskup on a standup double to centre.
Colby Tanton started, going 5.2 innings and striking out six. He gave up three earned runs, but Kadin Wilson came on in relief and allowed the winning run to score.
The Reds got their revenge later that afternoon when Ericson doubled on the first pitch he saw to walk-off the Parkland Twins 13-12.
The Desserre brothers were dominant again, as Mitch went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs, while Scott went 1-for-2 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Nathan Bogstie was also productive at the dish, going 2-for-4 with one run scored and collected a pair of RBIs.
On July 22 the Reds were on the wrong end of 2-1 decision to the Camrose Cougars.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh, the Reds made things interesting when Scott scored his brother Mitch with a triple to centre with one out.
With the tying run standing 90-feet away, Bogstie struck out and Wilson flew out to right field to end the contest.
Ryerson Rushford was brilliant on the mound, going five innings, striking out three and only allowing one earned run. Orford came in to shut it down and allowed one run in two innings.
“Playing in these one-run games was extremely important and we talked about it with our guys after the game. We know errors happen, but every play is so vital this time of year, so we need to clean a few things up before provincials,” said Reds Assistant Coach Darren Cockx.
The Reds are now in prepare mode for their Tier 1 provincial tournament over the August long weekend in Red Deer.
“We think we are looking pretty good heading into provincials. We’ve been right there with every team these past few weeks. We even took Camrose to the brink and they are undefeated this year,” said Cockx. “When we play good defence, we are a tough team to beat. Now it’s about going out and playing our best baseball at provincials.”
The bantam Red 1 program had one of their two provincial tune up games rained out July 23 at Fair Field in Cheadle.
The Reds also hosted the Foothills Outlaws July 26 at Fair Field in preparation for their Tier 1 provincial tournament Aug. 3 to 5 in Grande Prairie, Alta.