Westlock’s Grey Lions are the 2013 Harvey J. Doherty Memorial baseball tournament champions.
The team, made up of players who have retired from the younger Red Lions, won the title with a 7-6, come-from-behind win over the Cold Lake Cardinals on June 2.
The game started at 6 p.m. on Sunday, past the Westlock News went to press.
“We did believe we could win it,” said manager Rick Sereda. “Both teams were very good, but we had confidence and lots of character, as well as a little luck.”
In the early going, it looked like the Cardinals would run away with the game, taking an early lead that had grown to 5-0 by the middle of the fourth inning.
However, in the bottom of the fourth, the Grey Lions’ bats came alive and drove in four runs to make the score 5-4. “That was key,” Sereda said. “We knew as long as we were close, we had the bats to pull out the win.”
The Cardinals tacked on another run to make the score 6-4, which was the same score the Grey Lions faced coming to bat in the bottom of the seventh.
In that half inning, the Grey Lions were relentless in fighting for every ball and trying to pull out the win.
The Lions were able to do just that, plating three runs in three separate at-bats, including the Kevin Cyr’s winning run, scored from third base on a one-out single to right field by Doug Hanlan.
The win is essentially a bonus, Sereda said, explaining the team entered the tournament as a means of preparing for competing in the Canadian National Oldtimers Baseball Championships in Edmonton this August.
“We wanted a chance to see better pitching, and feel the adrenaline,” he said. “We accomplished that, and it will help a great deal.”
The national tournament runs Aug. 1-5, and is a chance for the team to see how it matches up to other similar teams from across Canada, Sereda explained. It’s expected to be quite the experience.
