BARRHEAD - The Barrhead U18 Orioles capped off a successful season in the best way possible — by winning the provincial championship.
The squad earned the championship banner by going undefeated in four games in the Alberta Tier II U18 championship tournament in Spruce Grove on the Heritage Day long weekend.
Their first game was against a stubborn Clive Coyotes team.
"Going into the game, we knew how important it was for us to play well," head coach Ryan Rau said. "If we won, we knew if we won, we would secure a spot in the semi-finals, and if we lost, we would be in big trouble because we would have to win our next game by a whole bunch of runs."
Liam Rentz started the game on the mound for the Orioles.
"He struggled a bit in the early going, but settled down," Rau said.
However, he said, Barrhead's offence was up to the task early, "scoring a bunch of runs to take the lead".
But, Rau said, the Orioles' offence came to a halt after Clive replaced their starting pitcher.
"He was really good," he said, adding Barrhead had built up a three-run cushion.
Sometime in the middle innings, Rentz began to tire, and the Coyotes started to get a few hits.
The Orioles then went to the bullpen, calling upon Hayden Rentz to take over in middle relief.
"He got us out of trouble, recording a few outs, but Clive wouldn't quit, and they slowly started climbing back into the game, scoring a run [making the score 8-7]".
Hayden was replaced by his brother Kohen, who held the fort for the Orioles for Ryder Sabiston, who pitched the final inning to record the final out.
"It was a dramatic finish," Rau said, adding it was looking dire for the Orioles as Clive loaded the bases with only one out.
A Clive hitter then hit a line drive that looked like it was going to the outfield, but Hayden Rau managed to knock it down and throw the runner at home plate. In the final at-bat, the Coyotes hitter hit an infield pop fly fielded by catcher Issiac Edwards. Leading the way offensively for Barrhead was Liam Rentz, who had four RBIs, and Matthew Li, who went three for four at the plate.
In the second game, the Orioles faced the Acme Red Sox in another offensive sluggfest, 13-12.
Part of the reason for the offensive outburst, Rau said, is that, as both teams had already secured semi-final berths, they chose to rest their key pitchers. Ryder Sabiston went two for three at the plate, including a triple, ending the game with three RBIs. Liam Rentz came off the bench for the game-winning hit.
The semi-final saw Barrhead edge out a Calgary squad in another offensive slugfest, 13-12, following a lengthy one-and-a-half-hour delay due to a thunderstorm.
"The teams passed the time by playing games with each other, tic-tac-toe, challenging each other to foot races, and arm-wrestling. We garnered quite a friendship with them."
But Rau said, when it was time to pick up their bats, the friendship was off, and the teams battled hard.
Barrhead got off to a decent start, but Calgary quickly overtook them on the scoreboard and led 12-7 entering the sixth inning.
By the end of the inning, the Orioles had tied the game. In the seventh, Barrhead's Hayden Rau pitched himself out of trouble after Calgary loaded the bases, before Connor Kalmbach hit a double and crossed home plate on an infield single by Hayden Rau.
In the end, the championship, a return matchup against the Acme Red Sox, was anticlimactic, with Barrhead getting the early lead and steamrolling to a 12-0 victory in a game that was called early due to the mercy rule.
Going into the tournament, Rai was unsure about the Orioles' chances.
"They [Baseball Alberta] moved us up a level," he said.
Before the official start of the season, Rau said, Baseball Alberta asks squads to indicate their skill level at which they can successfully compete.
Having confidence in their roster, the Orioles' coaching staff believed their players could hold their own against the top half of the province's U18 squads and requested that Barrhead play in Division I.
However, Rau said the Orioles did not get off to a good start, winning only one out of their first eight games.
"Playing at such a high level right from the start forced us to go get better quickly," he said. "By June, we started beating a lot of the teams that we thought we never had a chance against."
In July, Baseball assigned the Orioles to Tier III.
"We were a little worried about moving up, but we have a great group of kids that never stopped battling, and we ended up taking the championship."
He added the future of the 18U squad is promising, with the majority of the roster being eligible to play next season.
As for the retiring players, Rau said, they would make fine additions to Barrhead's North Central Alberta Baseball League entry.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
