It was not a banner week for the Westlock Red Lions.
The team was winless in the two games it played last week, tying the Edmonton Warriors 13-13 on the road on July 27, and dropping a 4-2 decision to the Barrhead Orioles at home on July 28.
“It’s not the result we were after,” said manager Adam Sawatzky following the Monday-evening defeat.
With the winless week, the Red Lions sit at 12-5-2, which puts them in third place in the North Central Alberta Baseball League. They have one more game this season on Aug. 6 at Keller Field against the Warriors.
Sawatzky said Monday’s loss was the result of the team not playing as sharp as it had earlier in the season.
“The strength of the competition has been down a bit lately and I think we’re playing down to their level,” he said. “We’ve got to worry about our own play no matter who we’re playing.”
The Red Lions never led against the Orioles. Barrhead scored twice in the first inning, and added a third run in the second.
In the bottom of the third the Red Lions got on the board.
Pat Rains led off with a single and advanced to second when T.J. Oliwa was hit by a pitch. Rains scored on Stu Schroeder’s RBI double; Schroeder then advanced to third after the Orioles bobbled the ball a bit, but was joined on the base by Oliwa, who had tried to score as well. Oliwa was called out for the first out of the inning.
Nathan Brown was up next and hit a single to plate Schroeder, bringing the Red Lions to within one at 3-2. Ryan Teske flew out to centre and Aaron Watamaniuk grounded out to second to end the inning.
The game remained scoreless until the top of the sixth, when the Orioles added an insurance run to make it 4-2.
In the later innings, the Red Lions consistently threatened to score, loading the bases with two outs in both the sixth and seventh, but were not able to get the hit they needed.
Sawatzky said he felt the team lacked focus early on, and that’s what did them in.
“We turned it on late when we were down,” he said. “If we had played that way all game, it would have been different.”
On July 27 the Red Lions played a “wild, crazy game” on the road against the Edmonton Warriors.
“They played well, and we didn’t play our best,” Sawatzky said. “Odd stuff happened.”
The game didn’t start well for the Red Lions, as they found themselves trailing 7-0 after the first inning.
They clawed their way back into the game and took the lead, but perhaps lost their focus and let the Warriors come back themselves, Sawatzky said.
With one game left in the regular season and a playoff spot locked up, Sawatzky said he hopes to get the team working on its fundamentals and having everyone know what they need to do, in order to “turn the ship around.”
Depending on their result against the Warriors, and that of the game between the Sherwood Park Athletics and Edmonton Blackhawks, the Red Lions will finish in either third or fourth place.
