The Westlock Grey Lions are playoff bound after capping off a successful Alberta West Central Baseball Association regular season with a win and a loss.
The club played their final two games at home, hosting the Spruce Grove Eagles at Keller Field July 22 and the Edmonton Blues July 24.
The Lions lost a heartbreaker in extra innings against the Eagles, but managed to score a victory over Edmonton without having to throw a single pitch, as the Blues couldn’t put together a team and didn’t make the trip.
Moe Fagnan was sent to the mound to cage the Eagles in a game that required 10 innings — ultimately the Grey Lions fell 5-3.
Tied 3-3 in the 10th, Spruce Grove put up two runs in the top half and the Lions couldn’t respond.
Pitcher/catcher Sheldon McGonaghy, who caught all 10 innings, said it was a game where the Lions didn’t capitalize when they needed to.
“It was just a tough game,” McGonaghy said. “We didn’t get any timely hits when we needed them.”
While the offence was lacking at key moments, he commended the defence for keeping them in the game.
“In the extra innings we turned some nice defensive plays to keep us in it,” McGonaghy said.
“We just didn’t get the timely hits we needed to push a run across the plate … we had guys on base, we couldn’t push them across when we needed to.”
The Grey Lions now have at least a week off before league playoffs begin in early August.
McGonaghy said is will be business as usual for the Lions as playoff time approaches.
“We’re a pretty veteran team so we’ve got lots of guys that have been in the playoffs before,” he said. “We’re ready to go.”
The Lions don’t yet know who they will match up against first in the post-season, but McGonaghy said they’re ready to face some tough competition.
“It will be some good tough games,” he said. “The top teams in this league are pretty competitive.
“We’ve come off a very successful season this year and we had lots of wins, lots of close wins and come from behind wins and we’re going to take that into the playoffs and hopefully come out on top at the end.”
