The Olds Spitfires did not medal at Baseball Alberta's 2014 Bantam AA Tier IV Provincial Championships but that doesn't mean they didn't gain from the experience.“The players over the season developed quite a bit,” said Dave Larsen, the Spitfires' coach. “It was a good learning experience for the players. A lot of them haven't competed at that level in baseball before. Now they know what they need to do next year to compete and maybe win a gold medal.”Olds Minor Baseball played host to the tournament, held from July 18 to 20 at the O.R. Hedges Park diamonds.At the opening ceremonies on July 18, Olds' Jason Jaffray, a player for the St. John's IceCaps in the American Hockey League, threw out the first pitch.The Spitfires lost their two round-robin games on July 19: 28-1 against the Spruce Grove Sox and 21-20 versus the Fort McMurray Oil Giants.However, the team won the consolation final, beating the Camrose Red 5-4 on July 20.The Fort McMurray Oil Kings won gold in the tournament, defeating the Spruce Grove Sox 12-3 in the championship game.There was no bronze medal game, as that would require an additional day of play, Larsen said.Heavy rain fell throughout the weekend but thanks to the help of parents and volunteers, the tournament finished on time, he said.“We ended up with a couple of lengthy rain delays but the parents and the volunteers all helped to do any diamond maintenance that was required to get the field back into playing shape.”Despite the weather disruption, Larsen said his team enjoyed the tournament, even making some new friends during the delays.“They had a great time. The boys, they met some new kids during those rain delays, it was kind of funny,” he said. “They were actually getting together with the other teams in the dugouts to get out of the rain and they got to know some of the players from other towns and that was fantastic for them to meet a bunch of new people.”The following is a list of teams that participated in the tournament:Olds Bantam Spitfires, Spruce Grove Sox, St. Paul Storm, Sherwood Park Bantam AA Green, Camrose Red, Fort McMurray Oil [email protected]
