The Westlock Red Lions have continued their winning ways over the past couple weeks to maintain their firm grip on second place in the North Central Alberta Baseball League.
They won their June 6 game against the Sturgeon Paladins in Bon Accord after a hard-fought battle that saw the Lions gain some momentum and finish strong.
“It was kind of a seesaw battle at the beginning,” manager Adam Sawatzky said.
The Lions put the first run on the board in the first inning, but the Paladins overtook them in the second and third. It wasn’t until the fifth that the Lions began to roar, eight runs in the last three innings.
“We finished strong and ended up on top,” he said. “We were able to stay close then our bats came alive at the end of the game there and we were able to put some runs together.”
While the team never goes into a game with the expectation of victory, taking nothing for granted, Sawatzky said the Lions had a lot of confidence after facing the Paladins June 3 at the Harvey J. Doherty Memorial Tournament in Westlock.
“We faced them in our tournament and we were able to beat them, but we knew they were going to be tough,” he said. “They had their full roster there last night to play us as hard as they could.”
The regular-season victory leaves the Lions with a 5-0-1 record, trailing only the 4-0 Camrose Axemen in the league standings. The Lions won’t have the opportunity to meet the Axemen on the field until July 15 for a double header at Keller Field in Westlock.
While the victories don’t count in the league standings, Sawatzky said a victory at the June 2-3 Harvey J. Doherty Memorial Tournament was a big boost for the team.
“I don’t know if I’d say we expected to win, but we always key our tournament as one of our main goals at the beginning of the season,” he said.
The Lions went undefeated in their pool, besting the Athabasca Royals on Saturday by a 13-1 margin. The Royals, who aren’t part of the NCABL, found themselves struggling during the tournament.
“They had a bunch of players that are not familiar with the league; they need to learn a little bit more about our league and the type of ball we play,” Sawatzky said.
The Lions went on to beat the Sturgeon Paladins 5-2 on Sunday afternoon, earning a spot in the playoff match against the Lacombe Dodgers. The Lions pulled out a 5-1 win for the tournament title.
“We wanted to win our own tournament and have a strong showing there, which we did,” Sawatzki said. “It was good; I was very happy that we did that.”
The Lions’ next action was at the Starchuk-Semeniuk Memorial Tournament in Waskatenau June 8-10, but the results of that tournament were not available by press time.
Their next regular season match is scheduled for this Wednesday, June 13, in Mayerthorpe against the Mets.
