Opening Day isn’t for another three weeks, but the Westlock Red Lions are well on their way to launching their defence of their 2012 North Central Alberta Baseball League title.
“We’ve got 15 guys lined up and ready to go,” said manager Adam Sawatzky.
This year, he said the Red Lions have simple expectations for how they will perform once they hit the field for the home opener on Wednesday, May 8 at 7:15 p.m. versus the Sturgeon Paladins. The club’s next home date after that isn’t until May 22 when the face the Edmonton Blackhawks.
“Our expectations are going to be basically the same as they were last year,” Sawatzky said, explaining the team wants to win the Harvey J. Doherty tournament at Keller Field May 31-June 2, and advance to the playoffs.
The Red Lions ended the 2012 season in third place with a 12-4-2 record before knocking off the Edmonton Blackhawks in the semifinals and the Camrose Axemen in the championship series to claim the title.
However, Sawatzky said he doesn’t expect those goals to be achieved easily, because the league’s top teams are all capable of winning on any given day.
“The teams at the top, they’re pretty evenly match,” he said.
“It’s kind of a roll of the dice where we’re going to end up at the end of the year.”
He added being the reigning champion means other teams are going to want to knock them off their perch.
“I think we’ll have a bit of a target on our backs with being the champions,” he said. “Not that teams took it easy on us last year, but I think we’ll see everybody’s top pitcher and top lineup coming up gunning to beat us.”
Sawatzky did say the Red Lions have a good idea how well they’ll perform this season, as the roster is virtually identical to the one that hit the field last season.
The team has started practising in the field house at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre and inside the curling rink. They’ve been hard at work once a week, with plans to start twice-a-week practices in the near future.
However, the hope is to get outside on the field soon, assuming the weather allows it.
“We’d like to get outside for at least a couple of practices and some scrimmaging before the season starts,” Sawatzky said.
With the season only 18 games long, Sawatzky said there’s only one goal for the season opener.
“We want to get a good, fast start and put a ‘W’ on the board,” he said.
