Managing a comeback after falling behind by seven runs is unlikely, but not out of the realm of possibility, as far as baseball goes. To do it twice, however, is practically a miracle.
And yet, that is exactly what the Barrhead Midget ‘AA’ Orioles managed to achieve in their final weekend of play in the Tier 1 Provincial Championships at Red Deer from Aug. 3-5.
Although the Orioles were defeated in the semi-finals, they managed to pull out two huge comebacks against top-ranked teams in the round robin.
“They played awesome. I couldn’t have asked for more,” said Midget coach Doug Hanlan.
“They never quit, they kept their heads up, and they probably played the best ball (of their entire) season.”
Heading into provincials, there was every reason to be cynical about how the Orioles would perform. Their last three games on July 21-22 ended in losses against Camrose, Parkland and Lacombe, and they were heading into the provincials in fourth place.
In their first match against the Red Deer Braves, it seemed as though the Orioles were heading for a loss as the host team pulled to a 7-2 lead early in the game.
However, Hanlan said the Orioles chipped at Red Deer’s lead throughout the game, eventually taking the lead in the bottom of the sixth and then shutting down the Braves in the seventh. The final score was 9-8.
Red Deer still nearly pulled out a win in the seventh by hitting an infield single with bases loaded, but Barrhead’s centrefielder managed to catch the ball and shut down the Braves’ attempt at a comeback.
“That was the play that won us the game,” Hanlan said.
The second game was against the Provost Pilots. Barrhead crushed them 17-0, invoking the mercy rule after five innings.
“We were the second-youngest team there and Provost was the youngest team there. They were really young; they were first-year Midgets,” said Hanlan.
“We actually kind of took it easy on them, just because they were having a bad game.”
With two wins under their belt, Barrhead was assured a spot in the semi-final. But their final match was against the Lacombe Dodgers, the No. 1 seed at provincials.
Hanlan said that Beaumont eventually went on to win the championship, and the only reason Beaumont was not No. 1 was because they had lost one game to Lacombe.
Barrhead managed two runs in the first and second innings to achieve a 2-0 lead, but the Dodgers came out roaring in the third inning, scoring all 10 of their runs and achieving a 10-2 lead.
Hanlan said Lacombe just hit the ball really well; Barrhead only made one physical error that inning.
Down 10-2, a third victory seemed out of the question. However, Hanlan told the boys that he had a feeling they would pull out another huge comeback.
Sure enough, Barrhead chipped away at Lacombe’s lead, raising the score to 10-3, then 10-6, then 10-7 and finally 10-8 going into the seventh inning.
Barrhead’s final play was a one-hopper ground ball hit by Branden Meier, which brought in Kaden Wiegand from second base for the tying run and Spencer Meunier on first base for the win.
“It was just unbelievable. The stands were going insane, our team went insane,” said Hanlan.
“Both of our comebacks were just so intense and crazy, We had lots of fans and parents and grandparents there, and they were all thanking us for just playing our hearts out.
“The boys just never quit. They just kept coming back and kept coming back. You could feel the momentum. It was nuts.”
That was enough to put Barrhead in the No. 1 seed in their pool going into semi-finals. Their last match was against Camrose, a much older team who Barrhead had faced once this year.
Even with two of Barrhead’s best arms left, Camrose gained an early lead and held on to it. They ended up winning 13-3.
“To be honest, (Camrose) deserved it. They hit really well, they pitched really well,” said Hanlan.
“We had plenty of opportunities. We had bases loaded three times in the game in different innings. We had opportunities to score. We just never got it done.”
Hanlan said he is hopeful they will be able to take the entire Tier 1 in 2019, as the majority of their players will now be third-year veterans.
He said the team had a three-year plan: to make Tier 2 in their first year, Tier 1 in their second and a provincial crown in their third.
“Like I said, we were the second youngest team, so it was really quite an accomplishment (to get as far as we did).”
