The Barrhead Bantam Orioles played three games over the weekend against two tough teams.
The boys were off to a rough start when they found themselves against South Jasper Place Thunderstruck from Edmonton. The Orioles lost their first game of the weekend 18-8 in seven innings.
On Sunday Barrhead was scheduled for a doubleheader against the Fort Saskatchewan Red Sox, who had just claimed their own victory against Jasper Place.
The Orioles played a strong game and, in five innings, landed the first win in the two-game series a whopping 12 runs to two.
The second game later that afternoon again started off rocky for Barrhead. Despite the Orioles falling behind in the first few innings, the boys were able to pull up their socks and fight back.
The runs continued to come in for both teams, which remained neck in neck for the majority of the game.
In the end though, Barrhead lost by only one run and saw a final score of 11-10 in seven innings.
Coach Rod Callihoo said the first game against the Red Sox went really well, however the Orioles had a slow start in the second game.
“We just didn’t get a real good start in the first two innings, but after that we played really quite well,” he said. “It was a good game.”
The Orioles are about two thirds of the way through their season, with only one round left before provincials begin at the end of July.
In the meantime, the team will continue to build their skills. Callihoo said the Barrhead’s pitching has been fairly consistent throughout the season. Hitting however hasn’t.
“We need to work on our hitting and make sure we’re doing that,” said Callihoo.
“It’s always good to work on the fielding, but hitting is probably what we have to be most aware of.”
That being said, the Orioles saw their first home run of the season on Sunday when Tanner Whiting hit it over the fence, earning cheers and applause from the crowd as he rounded the bases.
Barrhead’s next game will be this weekend, but the location is yet to be determined by Baseball Alberta.
