INNISFAIL – The Innisfail Merchants are provincial champions.
The Merchants took the Junior AAA provincial championship title in dramatic fashion with a 13 – 7 victory over the St. Albert Cardinals at home on Aug. 6.
Innisfail was host for the Junior AAA Provincial Championships from Aug. 4 to 6.
“You got to go in with that attitude, that we’re there to win,“ said Jay Kirkham, assistant coach. “The bats lead the way. We got hits and scored 73 runs over the course of five games, which is astronomical.”
“We all came together as a team at the right time to make things happen,” he added.
The three-day event saw five junior teams from Fort Saskatchewan, Edmonton, St. Albert, Barrhead and Innisfail vie for the provincial title.
“Every team in the league is pretty competitive and you got to bring your (best) game to beat every team out here,” said Kirkham.
They remained focused on the task at hand.
“I don’t think there’s any extra pressure being the host. The team expects to win every day,” said Kirkham. “As soon as they take the field, they come with the attitude to win the game.”
As provincial champions, the Merchants moved on to the Western Canada Baseball Association Championships in St. Albert from Aug. 10 to 12.
That’s where their luck ran out.
The Merchants were handed three consecutive losses, including an 8-3 loss to the Regina Reds on Friday, a close 9-8 loss to the St. Albert Cardinals Friday evening and an 8-1 loss to the St. James A’s from Manitoba on Saturday.
“Westerns is the biggest stage for Alberta junior baseball. We’re definitely excited to be here,” said Kirkham, prior to Game 1 on Friday.
“We got to stay composed and do what we did (at provincials). We know we got the talent to get it done, we just got to put it all together again.”
Kirkham noted the team’s best finish at the Western Canada Baseball Association Championships was second place in 2011 and 2012.
“We’re definitely expecting some really good competition.”
The gold medal game between the St. James A’s and Regina Reds was rained out and with both teams holding a 3-0 record, both were crowned co-champions of the 2018 21U Western Canada Baseball Association.
Kirkham said the Merchants had a strong regular season, which finished at the end of July. Their roster included several players from across Central Alberta.
“It was a good season. We were fairly competitive all year,” Kirkham concluded.
