Westlock’s Grey Lions have qualified for the final of the Harvey J. Doherty Memorial baseball tournament May 31-June 2 at Keller Field in Westlock.
The championship game started at 6 p.m. on Sunday, after the Westlock News’ press time.
In getting to the final, the team — consisting of many players who have retired from the younger Red Lions — notched two wins over teams that play in the North Central Alberta Baseball League.
“This tournament is important to all of us,” said Grey Lions manager Rick Sereda. “Just to have the opportunity to play in it again is special.”
The Grey Lions played in the tournament opener on May 31 at 7 p.m. against the Edmonton Warriors, winning 6-4.
“We were nervous in the first few innings,” Sereda said. “We had the butterflies, but it was a cool feeling. We’re very happy with the result.”
In the second game at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning, the Grey Lions came out with an 11-2 win over the Edmonton Indians.
Although the team was the oldest one at the tournament, Sereda said wanting to beat the younger teams to show what the older generation could do never entered the players’ minds.
“We were just trying to recapture the fun,” he said.
The team entered the tournament with “realistic” expectations, he added. They know there are things they can’t do as well as the younger players — pitch as many innings, run as fast, etc. — but their experience brings with it certain benefits.
“We still understand the game and have composure in the dugout,” Sereda said. “There’s also something the younger teams don’t have as much of — chemistry. Some of us have been teammates for more than 20 years.”
For the weekend, the Red Lions had to take a back seat to their older counterparts.
The Red Lions opened their tournament at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, dropping a one-sided 12-2 decision to the St. Albert Cardinals and ending their hopes of winning their home tournament.
“Sometimes those losses happen,” said manager Adam Sawatzky. “What matters is how you respond, and we responded well. I’m not sure if there’s anything we would do differently, things just went their way.”
The team followed that loss to the Cardinals with a 13-3 win over the Calgary Dust Devils at 7 p.m. on Saturday to book a spot in the consolation final.
“The game went our way,” Sawatzky said. “We got the hits and found the holes.”
The consolation final started at 3 p.m. on Sunday, and ended after press time.
Heading into the game, Sawatzky said the Red Lions were hoping to put on a good show for the home crowd.
“We’re aiming to set up a sweep of the finals,” he said.
Looking at the NCABL season, Sawatzky said the Red Lions are in good shape. They currently sit tied for first place at 4-0, alongside the Sherwood Park Athletics.
“We’ve played lots of good games and executed well,” he said. “We’re not peaking yet, but we are rolling.”
The Red Lions next play a league game on June 4 at home against the Edmonton Athletics before travelling to play the Stony Plain Mets on June 5.
