WESTLOCK - The Westlock Senior Red Lions, known locally as the Grey Lions, are the class of the Alberta West Central Baseball Association this summer with a 12-2 record thanks to an unprecedented 10-game winning streak.
The club ran the streak to nine after bulldozing the Sturgeon Paladins 14-2 at Keller Field July 18, then upped the heater to 10 by spanking the Fort Saskatchewan Red Sox two nights later by an 11-1 score. Player/manager Sheldon McConaghy said following a 2-2 start to the year, the club has caught fire and dominated the 10-team league for players ages 30-plus — in 2021 the Grey Lions finished second in the league with an 8-5 record before falling in the league championship final 2-0 to the Paladins.
“We’re rolling. We’ve been hitting well as a group and playing good defence, but we added a few more pitchers this year which has really helped to share the load,” said McConaghy.
“We just want to stay healthy and keep rolling. If we continue to play good defence and the bats stay hot we have a good chance of going far in the playoffs.”
The club will round out the regular season with three road games versus the Pirates, Grey Jays and Heat, then will play host for the opening round of the playoffs which pits one versus four in the standings and two versus three — the winners of those two series will then move on to play for the league title.
“We’re hoping to start the playoffs the week of Aug. 15 and it’ll be a home-and-home series. For sure we’ll be hosting for the first round and then it will come down to how soon they can be done because usually we end up playing on diamonds in the city with lights as some of those games end up being played at night,” he added.