BARRHEAD – Despite a valiant effort, including forcing their opponents into extra innings during their second match, the Barrhead Orioles fell to the St. Albert Cardinals in the first round of North Central Alberta Baseball League (NCABL) semi-finals this weekend.
The Orioles faced off with the Cardinals in a best-of-three series Aug. 12 at Keller Field in Westlock. Notably, this was Barrhead’s first post-season appearance since their return to the NCABL in 2022.
“I think we had a great season and we took a big step forward from last year,” said manager and outfielder Chase Visser. “Our team faced a lot of adversity all year, including the very last game of playoffs, but the guys persevered and played hard until the very end.”
Throughout the season, Barrhead played several close games against the Cardinals, including a 9-8 loss in their May 10 home-opener and a 11-9 victory over St. Albert on May 25. However, the Cardinals were still the top-ranked team in the NCABL and won the pennant with a 15-5 record.
Game 1 saw the Orioles lose by a score of 7-4. The Orioles opened with two runs in the first inning, but St. Albert ran away with the game in the third with four runs, followed by one more run in the fourth and two more in the sixth. Barrhead earned two more runs in the sixth but was unable to catch up.
In Game 2, the match remained scoreless for the first several innings until the Cardinals finally got on the scoreboard with a home run.
However, Barrhead did not give up, and following a ground ball with a runner on third base, the Orioles finally got their first run, which tied up the score 1-1.
In the seventh inning, the Orioles were able to load the bases, which clearly left the Cardinals a bit rattled. That led to St. Albert walking one of the Orioles’ batters, which put them up 2-1.
St. Albert rallied and was able to tie up the score in the bottom of the seventh, forcing the game into an extra eighth inning.
If Barrhead managed to win, Game 3 of their playoff series would take place the following day. Sadly, St. Albert managed to pull out the win with four more runs while Barrhead only notched one, with the final score ending up as 6-3.
“We gave the pennant champs a run for their money in only our second season,” Visser said. “This team is only going to get better and I can’t wait for next season to come.”
The NCABL championship will also be a best-of-three series set to take place on the Aug. 25-26 weekend between the Cardinals and the Westlock Red Lions, who defeated the Parkland Twins to claim a spot in the finals.
