The Westlock Red Lions secured the NCABL pennant at their final regular season home game on Thursday, thrashing the St. Albert Cardinals 16-1.
“It was a big game to win because they're on our heels a little bit,” said Red Lions general manager Jordan Brand. “It’s a little bit of a statement win. It's great to win like that.”
The Red Lions secured first place in the NCABL standings following their victory against the Cardinals, having also defeated the Parkland Twins, their closest challengers in the standings, last week.
The Cardinals took the lead early on in the first inning, but the Red Lions pulled back to lead 4-1 at the end of the innings through two of their all-stars. Leyton Sharrun hit a two-run RBI and Teron Callihoo hit a two-run home run as the Red Lions took a commanding lead.
The Red Lions added another four runs in the second inning, two runs in the third inning, four runs in the fourth inning and finished it off with two runs in the sixth inning.
Sharrun led the offence for the Red Lions, hitting five RBIs and three hits, with Sean Beaudoin and Steve Cote also scoring three hits. Callihoo, Jared Lamb, Kyle Lawrence and Carter Hagel all chipped in with two hits each with further hits by Nathan Brown, Hayden Rau and Jordan Brand for 20 hits in total from the Red Lions.
Ayden Cote got seven strikeouts over five innings on the mound, with Lamb throwing two innings with no runs for a solid defensive performance.
The Red Lions clinched the pennant with a nine-game winning streak and two more regular-season games to play on the road against the Edmonton Angels and Legal Primeaus.
The Red Lions are preparing to retain their title in the NCABL playoffs from August 8-9 and will play in the Western Canadian Baseball Association Senior Championships from August 15-17.
“I feel like as the years been going on we've been really staying focused on games that are long, been trying to keep a good mindset on the bench,” said Brand.
“I'm excited to get into playoffs. We've had a great year and hopefully we can keep rolling into August. We've been a real team this year, which is the biggest thing. Everyone picks each other up.”
