WESTLOCK – The Westlock Grey Lions will play for an Alberta West Central Baseball Association title following a two-game, old-fashioned spanking of the St. Albert Cardinals in the best-of-three league semifinal series played last week.
The Grey Lions, who finished the regular season in second place with an 8-5 record, put on a hitting clinic in the series, rolling to a 13-3 six-inning Aug. 17 home win, then followed up with a 12-4 drubbing Aug. 19 in St. Albert. Player manager Sheldon McConaghy was at a loss to explain the power explosion against the Cardinals, who finished just behind the Grey Lions in third place.
“Everyone was hitting the ball hard, from the top of the line-up to the bottom. Everyone was contributing,” said McConaghy Aug. 20. “They were both good, overall games. We played some defence and the pitching was solid both nights.”
McConaghy said they won’t know who’ll they face or where Game 1 of the championship will be played until the conclusion of the other semifinal series which features the league-leading Sturgeon Paladins and the fourth-place Edmonton Heat. As it stands that series is tied at a game apiece with Game 3 slated for Tuesday, Aug. 24.
Over the year the Grey Lions were 2-0 versus the Heat and split their two-game series with the Paladins.
“It doesn’t matter who we face. Both teams are good clubs and as long as we do our job we should have a good chance of coming out on top,” he said.
