WESTLOCK – The Westlock Grey Lions nine-game heater is over following a 12-9 loss to the Edmonton Ducks.
The July 19 defeat at Keller Field is the first in more than a month for the 30-plus senior club, who remain firmly in second place in the 10-team Alberta West Central Baseball Association (AWCBA) with an 11-3 record and sit only behind the two-time defending champs, the Sturgeon Paladins.
Player/manager Sheldon McConaghy said he and Kevin Ginger took turns on the mound over the first six innings and were running on fumes as both pitched during weekend victories — the club bottomed out in the second as the Ducks took a 9-1 lead.
That said, McConaghy liked how they displayed their trademark never-say-die attitude and nearly came back all the way and had the bases loaded in the seventh inning.
“The Ducks were hitting well and finding holes. But we made a good effort for the comeback and just came up a little short as we were only able to get one run in the seventh,” said McConaghy. “But that’s the way it goes sometimes. You just tip your cap to them and move on to the next game. We’re 11-3, so we’re happy with how things have been going.”
The club has four games left in their regular-season schedule and will hit the road Monday, July 24, to face Spruce Grove Eagles, then head to Bon Accord July 26 to face the Paladins. From there McConaghy has two more home games that were previously rained out he’ll try to reschedule for early August in advance of the league playoffs which go mid-month.
The club has toiled in the AWCBA for at least the past decade and have scored a handful of championships over that span, although they’ve lost to the Paladins in the league championship final in 2022 (2-1) and 2021 (2-0), while the league was shuttered in 2020 due to COVID-19 and in 2019 the Paladins swept them two-straight in the semifinal series.
