The Westlock Red Lions’ undefeated streak has come to an end after a 2-0 loss to the Mayerthorpe Mets last Wednesday evening.
The loss in Mayerthorpe brings the Lions’ record to 5-1-1 in the 2012 season of the North Central Alberta Baseball League, but manager Adam Sawatzky said he doesn’t think it will too significant an effect on the team’s prospects this year.
“I think we’re still pretty confident. We know if we play our best we’ve got a good chance in any game,” he said.
The loss was nonetheless disappointing, especially since the Lions see Mayerthorpe as a team they should be able to beat.
“It’s always tough to lose your first game of the season, and always tough to lose when you don’t play really well either,” he said. “We came out flat and just didn’t get it going.”
Sawatzky said the loss might have come down to having too much confidence after an undefeated weekend at the annual tournament in Waskatenau.
The Lions won the final of that game by a formidable 9-0 margin against the Edmonton Blackhawks.
“The Blackhawks are a good team and they threw one of the best pitchers in the league at us, but we had 13 hits in five innings against them,” he said.
The two other games the Lions played in that tournament were also fairly exciting, Sawatzky said.
Friday night’s game saw the Lions come out 5-1 on top of the Waskatenau Memorials, which is no mean feat considering the quality of the team.
“The Memorials always piece together a team of all-stars from all over the province,” he said. “We faced a pitcher from Lethbridge who plays college ball, and we did pretty well against him.”
Saturday’s game saw the Lions earn a 1-0 win over the Cold Lake Cardinals in a game that came right down to the wire.
“That was a tight game. We ended the game by throwing out one of their players at home plate. Brandon Watamaniuk threw a guy out from center field at home plate,” he said.
The Lions’ next action will be a home game Wednesday, June 20 at 7:15 p.m. against the Sherwood Park Athletics.
