The Southeast A’s U15 AAA baseball team won one of three games that they played at provincials in Saskatoon during the Saskatchewan Day long weekend.
The A’s opened the tournament with a 7-1 loss to the Sask. Five Giants, a team comprised of players from communities surrounding Saskatoon. The Giants went on to win the provincial title.
“It was pretty close game for the most part all game,” said coach Blair Beck. “Aiden Trimble pitched for us in that game, and pitched really well, and Casey Thompson hit a home run.”
In the second contest, they faced the Moose Jaw Canucks and won 14-2. Zach Price hit a grand slam home run for the A’s, and Callum Hollinger pitched a complete game.
In their final game, which the As needed to win to advance to the semifinal, the As dropped an 11-7 decision to the Saskatoon Astros. The As held a 7-6 lead at one point in the fifth inning.
Price was on the mound for the third game, and Hollinger had a home run.
“Altogether I was really happy with how the boys played,” said Beck.
The As pitched well and hit the ball well at provincials. They were in a tough pool, as the Giants and the Astros advanced to the semifinals in the 12-team tournament.
“We were right there with them the whole weekend,” said Beck.
He is pleased with the strides they showed this season. They had a young team at the start of the campaign, but finished fourth in the league, and made it to the league semifinal.
Beck believes the team’s record for the year was 20-17-1.
Five players will graduate to midget next season, and seven are eligible to return to the A’s next year.
The A’s have a strong regional presence, with four kids from Carnduff, three from Moosomin, and one player from each of Oxbow, Alameda, Carlyle, Kipling and Bellegarde. While they have players from all over, Beck said it wasn’t difficult to work with such a regional base.
“The players are really committed. They all came and they all worked hard, and we’re really happy with the effort they put in this year.”
