Westlock will be hosting the upcoming Western Canada Baseball Association (WCBA) Senior Baseball Championships at Keller Field in August.
From Aug. 15-17, Westlock’s own Red Lions will feature at the tournament against five other teams from across western Canada.
“That'll be our big test for the year,” said Red Lions general manager Jordan Brand. “Our team right now is still holding up. We've been playing good baseball, lots of good pitching and lots of good hitting and really becoming one as a team.”
The other teams in the tournament include the NCABL’s Parkland Twins, who currently sit in second place in the standings behind the Red Lions and are one of only two teams to have beaten the Red Lions all season. The Twins also made the NCABL finals last year, where they narrowly lost 1-0 to the Red Lions in the all-important game. The Twins also hold the Senior AA provincial championships, having finished top of the NCABL standings last season.
The Carlyle Cardinals will be representing Saskatchewan at the WCBA. The Cardinals play in the Saskota Baseball League and have won the previous five titles. They currently sit second in the standings behind the Southeast Diamondbacks.
The senior West Winnipeg A’s are one of two Manitoba teams at championships. The A’s play in the WSBL and won their league with a 16-4 regular season record, defeating the Elmwood Giants in the playoff finals. The A’s have kept up their momentum this year and currently sit top of the WSBL standings.
The Cartwright Twins are the other team from Manitoba. The Twins play in the Border Baseball League and have been league champions two times in the past three years and finished top of the West Division in their league this season.
The Kelowna Jays are BC’s representative in the championships. The Jays previously played in the Pacific International League.
The tournament is structured in a round-robin style with the Red Lions facing the Jays on Aug. 17 at 1 p.m. and playing the next day against the A’s at 11:45 a.m.
The top four teams in the round-robin table will advance to the semi-finals, with the first-place team playing the fourth-place team at 10 a.m. and the second-place team playing the third-place team at 1 p.m., both on Sunday (Aug.17). The final will subsequently take place that day at 4 p.m.
The WCBA host other championship events throughout the weekend at various age levels, including AA Minor (U13, U15 and U18) in St. Albert, U13 AAA in Chilliwack, U14 girls and U15 AAA boys in Saskatoon and U18 AAA in Winnipeg. The U22 championship was also scheduled to be hosted in Provost that weekend, but was cancelled by the WCBA.
