The year-end tournament for the Edmonton Rural Recreational Baseball League (ERRBL) took place June 22-24 at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex.
Teams from Athabasca, St. Albert, Strathcona, Waskatenau, Beaumont and Edmonton-Mill Woods took part in the tournament, with St. Albert winning the championship game against Beaumont by a score of 13-5.
Trey Surmon, a 14-year-old first-baseman and outfielder from the St. Albert Rays, said his team was really happy with the win.
"Our team never gave up," Surmon said. "We always came back from the bring, and the venue was nice to play on too."
Surmon, a nine-year veteran of minor ball, added that he still very much enjoys playing the sport.
"I will probably be playing next year as well," he said. "I really like the fact that there is always something happening when you play, and there is never nothing to do during a game."
Overall, Athabasca Minor Ball Association president Ryan Maier said he really like what he saw during the tournament.
"The future of ball looks good here in the Athabasca area," Maier said. "We just hope all the players had fun, and want to come back next year."
Athabasca Bantam Trappers finish tournament with 1-and-2 record
The host team, the Athabasca Trappers, did not finish as well as they had hoped to do.
The team won their first game June 22, when they blasted Waskatenau by a score of 14-2.
Head coach Kurtis Wiselka said his boys did really well during this match-up.
"They showed up, and played their best game of the year," he said. "But their next game against Strathcona June 23, they were not alert at all during their first two innings."
In their second game, the Strathcona Pirates were up 8-2 after the first two innings. Wiselka added that while the Trappers did come back, it was too little too late.
"They managed to score nine runs after that," he said. "But Strathcona only needed to score four more to win, and that is just what they did. The final score was 12-11 for the Pirates, but the boys pulled together, and did score more runs than they did, but at the wrong time. For our third game, we need to be right out of the gate, and play well from the start."
They ended up playing in the semi-final June 24 against St. Albert, the eventual winners of the tournament.
"Our boys played a great three-and-a-half innings at the start of the game," Trappers assistant coach Marc Overacker said. "But the second three-and-a-half innings saw them forget why they were even there. It allowed the Rays to score 10 more runs, and we ended up losing the game 12-9."
"The Trappers are much better playing from behind than playing as the early favourite," Wilselka added. "But the team this year peformed remarkably, and improved on their skills more than we had even envisioned. But, that being said, there is still room for improvement, and we hope there will be a longer season next year."
Overacker said they only played seven games on an eight-week season, and wants to see the ERRBL reinstate weekend double-headers.
"This way, each team plays 16 games throughout their season," Overacker continued. "That is what the league did prior to this year, before they were taken out."
"The team's plans for next year depend on the group we have," Wilselka said. "At this point, we will wait and see, and hope for the best."
Wiselka also took the time to thank all the people involved in making the tournament a successful weekend.
"I would like to thank the teams and fans who all came out, as well as all the parents and volunteers," he said. "I would especially like to thank our scorekeeping official, Gail Smith, who was very dedicated to her position with the organization. I would like to thank all the umpires, as well as Stonefish Rentals, for bringing water for the team during this hot weather."
Maier also offered his thanks to the coaches who gave up their time to lead the players within each of their teams.
"Without them, there really would not be a team," Maier said.
