The rawhide has started flying around Barrhead with the pee wee Yankees having already hit the diamond in tournament action.
In their first action of the season May 5-6 in a seeding tournament, the Yankees played three games at Callingwood Park in Edmonton, and came away with one win and two losses.
Their first game was on May 5 and came against Sherwood Park Green, and ended in a 15-11 defeat, said coach Rod Callihoo.
“We played well fielding, but we made a couple of errors to let them score more than us,” he said.
Callihoo added that it was the fielding that kept the game close, but also led to the end result when the players seemed to stray in their attention to detail.
“We need to trust our mechanics and not change what we do from practice to games,” he said.
On May 6, the Yankees played two games. The first was against Grande Prairie, and ended in a 13-1 defeat.
“They are a good club,” Callihoo said. “Mechanically, they were the best team there.”
Of the three teams Grande Prairie played over the weekend, the Yankees were the only one to manage to score a run.
However, once again Callihoo said the team needed to keep its focus on the little things of its game.
“We again need to trust our ability and stick with our mechanics to be successful,” he said.
Finally, the third game over the weekend came against South Jasper Place.
This game was the best offensive performance of the weekend for the Yankees, as well as its worst in terms of runs allowed. Fortunately, the offence came to life in a big way in a 21-17 win.
Having such a large offensive outburst was nice to see, Callihoo said.
“We played well and hit the ball,” he said. “We were able to try many different things. The players had the opportunity to play different positions to get comfortable and to show the coaches their potential.”
Looking toward the rest of the season, Callihoo said he can see good things coming, but some more work is still needed.
“Overall I was happy with our fielding mechanics, but our game preparation needs work,” he said. “We need to be more ready to play when the game starts.”
Up next for the Yankees is another three-game tournament May 26-27 in Stony Plain. At the tournament, the Yankees will play Whitecourt, Grande Prairie again and Stony Plain.
Barrhead’s bantam Yankees team opened its season with two games on May 12 at Callingwood Park.
Opening their season against Westlock, the Yankees dropped a 7-3 decision.
In the second game, the team went up against Grande Prairie. Much like their pee wee counterparts, the Yankees were only able to score one run in an 11-1 loss.
The Yankees return to the diamond May 26-27 in Morinville and St. Albert for three games against South Jasper Place, St. Albert and Grande Prairie.
