Bantam Reds bounced in provincial semifinal

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

Baseball fans in Cheadle were treated to the matchup everyone had been hoping for, seeing the top two teams in the province duke it out in the playoffs.
Unfortunately, it was in the semifinals.
The Strathmore Reds bantam team finished second in the province behind the Provost Pilots and faced off against them Aug. 6 at Fair Field.
In separate pools, the Reds took care of business, winning all three of their round robin games. The Pilots dropped a game to the Camrose Cougars Royal, finishing second in their pool.
The top two teams from each pool advanced to the playoffs in a crossover.
“All year we have done a great job battling back in games,” said Reds head coach Jason Tanton. “Today, we just ran into a good team at the wrong time and couldn’t battle back.”
The Reds led briefly in the fourth, but surrendered 12 runs over the final four innings, losing 14-5.
Trailing 2-0 in the top of the third, Reds catcher Kaden Zarowny sparked his team by gunning down Josh Paulgaard at second base.
Ryerson Rushford and Adam Kirkpatrick led off the bottom half with a pair of walks, followed by Ray Warrack’s sacrifice bunt attempt.
The bunt was perfect, softly hit and down the third baseline. The pitcher rifled the ball down the right field foul line. Rushford came around to score on the error.
The Reds appeared to grab the momentum for the first time, but Kirkpatrick was picked off at third base by the pitcher, the first of three pickoffs on the day.
Thankfully, Zarowny came to the rescue, when he belted a two-strike heater off the base of the right field wall, driving in one run.
With Mitch Tessemaker up next with two runners in scoring position, a wild pitch got away from Greg Nelson behind the dish, allowing Zarowny and Carson Polet to cross home plate.
It didn’t take long for the Red’s shutdown inning to let the Pilots back in the game.
Erik Nyberg cranked the first pitch over left fielder Aidan Cockx’s head to lead off the fourth.
Tessemaker went on to plunk three batters that inning, two in the head. The Reds also committed a pair of errors to hand the Pilots back the lead, 6-4.
“It was a great weekend with lots of fun, but today we just didn’t make the plays we normally do,” said Polet.
There wasn’t much the Reds could do once the bigger, more athletic lineup of the Pilots got rolling in the later innings. The Pilots carried the momentum from their semifinal win into the finals, as they mercied the Slave Lake Heat in five innings.
It’s always a bitter pill to swallow when the season comes to an end, but especially when it’s at home, in a beautiful new ballpark and in front of the home crowd.
“I just told them to keep their heads high,” said Tanton. “Finishing second in the province is nothing to be ashamed of. They need to keep growing as athletes and learn from their losses this season.”
The Reds opened up their provincial play with a sound 13-5 beating of the Heat Aug. 4. They picked up two wins during a double header Aug. 5. First, it was a 9-3 dusting of the Fort Saskatchewan Red Sox, which featured a Logan Grant inside-the-park homerun. In the evening, they cooked the St. Albert Cardinals 14-10.
For Polet, 14, and many of the Reds, they will now jump up to midget next season, reuniting with half of their bantam provincial winning teammates from last season.
Polet’s future teammates picked up some more championship pedigree, when the midget Reds clipped the host Sherwood Park Athletics 7-5 in the Tier II provincial final Aug. 6.
“Our motto all year has been to win the last game of the year — we won our last seven games of the year,” said Reds head coach Shawn Wilson. “Everything went according to plan this weekend. The kids executed on both sides of the ball and we played with the lead in all but one of the games.”
The game was tied at five when the A’s loaded the bases with none out in front of a hometown crowd that was now standing and loud.
With the Reds outfield playing deep, the A’s No. 5 hitter blooped the 0-1 offering from Kadin Wilson into shallow left field.
Third year shortstop Garret Hagel was the only person within range of the ball, as he lunged out to make the acrobatic catch. Not done there, Hagel also had the presence of mind to turn around and throw to the third basemen, doubling up the base runner.
“When Garret turned that double play, our bench erupted like we just won provincials, but it was still tied at that point,” said Shawn.
The tie didn’t last long, as Hagel came up to the plate and laced a double to centre field, scoring Scott Dessere and Kadin.
One ground out and a pair of fly outs were recorded by Kadin as the Reds were crowned Tier II provincial champs.
“Our pitchers did a great job all weekend. We needed three guys to get through the final game and they all did a great job,” said Shawn. “Our vets played great this weekend and we had a couple of the younger guys step up and perform strongly this weekend.”
First year player Jack Sauve picked up a pair of knocks and Mitch Desserre racked up a pair of doubles.
Mitch’s brother Scott was one of the veterans leaned on in provincials. He caught four of the five games without allowing a passed ball.
Since the Reds were in Tier II provincials, they cannot advance to westerns or nationals.