Skip to content

Cardinals pad win totals

Under some odd circumstances Sunday, the midget AAA St. Albert Cardinals lost 17-0 but gained two wins in the standings. That’s because the Calgary Cubs informed the Cardinals on Friday that they wouldn’t be making the trip north.

Under some odd circumstances Sunday, the midget AAA St. Albert Cardinals lost 17-0 but gained two wins in the standings.

That’s because the Calgary Cubs informed the Cardinals on Friday that they wouldn’t be making the trip north. They didn’t have enough players to field a nine-man roster so they forfeited the two games scheduled for at Legion Memorial Park.

St. Albert is credited with two 1-0 wins and their record improves to 6-10, while Calgary drops to 1-10. In addition, St. Albert’s game on Saturday was rained out, so they’ll have to reschedule their match against Okotoks Black.

The good news for the players hoping to play was they were able to hold an exhibition game against the Prospects Baseball Academy, coached by former midget Cardinals coach Cam Houston. The bad news is they came out on the wrong end of a score that looked more suited to a football game.

“You set yourself up for a Baseball Alberta weekend and then you find out [Friday] that they’re not going to show up, with the weather being the way it was and us not being able to get a game in [Saturday] night. I know it’s frustrating for us as a coaching staff, I know it’s frustrating for the players and the club, and I know it’s frustrating for the parents as well,” said St. Albert coach Kurtis Lay.

The Cardinals will take the wins any way they can get them as they try to move toward their season-long goal of finishing with a record above .500. To do that, they will have to finish the schedule with a 12-7 record.

Lay said he was happy with how his team did in the last league game, a 3-1 win over SEEBA 2 on June 15, and is hoping the team can build off of that.

“I think we can be a .500 ball club, but we’ve got to be able to play sound baseball. We’ve got to be able to throw strikes, we have to play defence and we have to get the timely hits when we need them,” he said.

The Prospects are made up of players aspiring to play college baseball in the United States and play tournaments across Western Canada and the U.S. They demonstrated their high skill level on Sunday, putting up 10 runs in the third inning alone.

“The team that ends up typically having the biggest inning, in a seven-inning or a nine-inning game, typically ends up winning the game,” Lay said. “You can’t afford to give that up.”

In several previous games, the Cardinals kept the score closer against the Prospects.

“The pitching’s a lot different,” said Matt Woodland, 16, of the Cardinals. “They all throw pretty hard. I don’t think we’ve faced anyone as hard as them. They also hit the ball good today. They filled the gaps pretty good.”

Woodland, a second-year midget, played most of the game in left field, but was also one of seven St. Albert pitchers to throw. He came in to pitch the final inning.

The Cardinals played in Sherwood Park against the A’s on Tuesday night, but the score was not available at press time. In their only previous meeting, the Cardinals beat the A’s 5-2 on June 9.

Tonight at 7 p.m., the Cardinals visit the Spruce Grove White Sox (9-12). Spruce Grove leads the season series 2-1.

The Cardinals are also gearing up for the Peter DeVries Invitational Tournament in Edmonton, hosted this weekend by SEEBA. St. Albert plays SEEBA 1 and Lloydminster in the round robin.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks