Timely hitting, quality pitching and all-around heads up baseball was the difference for the Westlock Red Lions in their home opener on Wednesday, May 11.
The Lions responded from a season opening loss with an 8-2 clobbering of the Barrhead Orioles in their first game at Keller Field since they were crowned North Central Alberta Baseball League champions last August.
“I couldn’t have been happier with the way the guys played. They really came out of the gate focused,” said manager Adam Sawatzky.
“No mistakes to speak of throughout the while lineup. Pitching, hitting, defence … everything was bang-on.”
Right from the first pitch, the Red Lions came out swinging and jumped to an early lead and never looked back as they held on for their first win of the year. The defending champs are now 1-1 on the season.
Sawatzky said the team showed resilience after an unfortunate loss to open the season.
“The way we played is the way I expect our team to play. It speaks to our character,” he said.
“It was a tough loss on opening day and to come back with a game like that is really good to see from the guys.”
Curtis Burlet started the game on the mound and earned the win, while the Red Lions’ bats were red hot on offence.
“I thought everyone had a really good approach at the plate. I’m really happy with the way everybody handles themselves with the bats,” Sawatzky said.
“Curtis was bang-on. It was his first outing of the year … he could have been a little sharper in spots, knowing his talent level, but I thought the was very focused and did a good job for us.”
Sawatzky said his team showed they are in mid-season from with the all-around win with contributions from almost every player.
“It was a very solid performance by the whole team,” he said.
The team knew they needed to pull together a win on Wednesday without digging themselves too far into a hole to start the new season.
“We didn’t want a couple losses in a row, especially early in the year, that can really put the pressure on,” Sawatzky said.
The team will look to keep the ball rolling as they host the Stony Plain Mets on Wednesday, May 18.
