Miners digging prospects
So how many Lethbridge Miners prospects are taking the field this weekend? So many that as the 18th annual Ron Matthews Memorial Tournament hits the field today at Spitz Stadium, those in attendance to check out the three-day tournament which will wrap up Sunday can check out out not one, but two Lethbridge teams.
In fact, the all-local showdown will start the action today as the Lethbridge Miners and Lethbridge Lakers take to Spitz Stadium for the first game of the day at 9:30 a.m. in the five-team tournament that also features the Vauxhall Spurs, Fort Macleod Royals and Medicine Hat Knights.
“It’s a little different scenario this year,” said Miners head coach Jared Ruff. “This year we have a lot more kids coming out to the program, so we’ve split it into two teams for the tournament. So we have a lot of new faces in the program, so this is a great weekend for the coaches to see them in action and see where they’re going to fit in the program going forward here.
“It’s always nice to have more bodies in the program and get kids in the program earlier so they learn how the program’s run,” said Ruff. “We have some good, young coaches working with some of our younger guys. So it’s a really exciting time.”
The Miners and the Knights got the 18th annual tournament going Friday as the Miners rallied from a 4-2 deficit to post a 7-4 decision.
Nathan Reiter went five innings and gave up four runs on two hits and nine strikeouts before Josh Oster came in and pitched two innings and gave up no runs or hits and one strikeout.
“It’s always nice to start the season with a win, for sure,” said Ruff. “We pitched really well today. Reiter was excellent on the bump with nine strikouts through nine innings with nine of the 15 hitters he faced. Another veteran, Josh, came in and got out all seven guys he faced. It was some good, veteran presence. We didn’t hit it all that well, but we had a couple of timely hits late in the game to break it open, which was nice to see.”
The Miners were held to six hits, but Oster went 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Action continues today and runs until Sunday with the finals slated for 5 p.m. at Spitz Stadium.
After that Ruff and his coaches will assess the weekend’s talent.
“We’ll finalize the Miners roster, probably on Tuesday,” said Ruff. “It’s the last chance for the guys to show what they have and we’ll put them where we see fit going forward.”
Following the Miners and Lakers game today, the Spurs and Royals take the field at noon, followed by Medicine Hat against the Lakers at 2:30 p.m.
At 5 p.m. Vauxhall takes on Medicine Hat with the Royals and Miners wrapping up Day 2 at 7:30 p.m.
In the late game Friday, the Lakers were taking on the Spurs.