Jr. Bulls maintain unbeaten pace

LETHBRIDGE WINS SHOWDOWN WITH TEAM ALBERTA AT JR. LITTLE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Their record says 5-0, but game faces remain firmly intact for the Lethbridge Junior Bulls.

The Junior Bulls put up some timely hits on their way to a 9-2 win over the Alberta representative Medicine Hat Little League at the Junior Little League Canadian Championship Monday afternoon at Spitz Stadium.

The win keeps the Junior Bulls record perfect and locks up first in the round-robin portion of the week, but the consensus among the hosts post-game was their record is perfect, but their game hasn’t been on an afternoon when Lethbridge committed five errors.

“We played alright overall,” said Junior Bulls’ first baseman and pitcher Ty Wever, who batted 2-for4 with three runs scored and two RBI in Monday’s win. “I don’t think we were at our 100 per cent best. I feel like we should have buried them a little bit earlier. We attacked the ball at the start of the game and I feel like we should have done that throughout the whole game. We stranded a lot of runners, but it is what it is. We got the win and that’s all that matters.”

The Junior Bulls held a 2-1 lead after the first inning before adding one more in the second and two in the third for a 5-1 cushion.

They put up another pair in the sixth and seventh innings before Alberta added one more in their half of the seventh as the teams matched each other in hits with eight each.

“You look at the scoreboard and it was equal hits and a few errors on both teams,” said Alberta head coach Dean Harrison, whose team wraps up the round-robin at 3-2, tied with B.C. and Ontario heading into Wednesday’s play. “I think we threw up a few too many walks to give them some free chances on the bases. Those eight hits, it depends when you get them and what happens. Clutch hits, that’s been our nemesis all week. We just haven’t gotten it when we need it when we get some runners on to put some pressure on the other team.

“I was happy with our game today, you look at a 9-2 score and you should be upset, but overall I thought our game was not too bad today.”

Though happy to get the win, those five errors nonetheless caught the attention of Junior Bulls coach Shayne MacInnis.

“It was a good win,” he said. “We do need to take care of the ball better, five errors, that’s not us. That happened to us two games ago and we kind of brought it back. But we left a lot of runners stranded during the game and they had a lot of runners on base as well and we found ways to get out of innings. But we’re going to have to come ready for the semifinal and hopefully the final, but one game at a time.”

In Monday’s game, Alberta only committed two errors.

“I told the boys that defensively we played how we wanted to,” said Harrison. “I thought our infield was great today, no snowball fights out there, we were throwing the ball nice and I thought our pitchers played OK. They kept the ball, for the most part, where we could make a play on it.”

Junior Bulls outfielder Dawson Leroux was one-for-three with two runs scored, while Ridly Greig chipped in with two RBI.

For Alberta, second baseman and centrefielder Cole Rath was 3-for-5 hitting leadoff with one run scored.

“There were some ground balls that advanced runners, we just couldn’t get the runs in,” said Rath, who felt his team has a good chance with the Junior Bulls should the teams cross paths in the playoffs. “I think we have a pretty good chance against Lethbridge. They’re our rivals and think we have a 50-50 chance for sure.”

With the round-robin portion decided, the teams get some time away from Spitz Stadium with a day off today.

“I told them let’s take the day off to decompress a little bit and have a little fun around town, go do some things and get recharged for a couple more games, hopefully, in the playoffs,” said Harrison. “I don’t want them to have the pressure on them now that they’re in the playoffs, go have some fun and take their minds off before baseball.”

Not only their minds, but their arms as well.

“After four games in a row, our arms get kind of tired so it’s nice to have a break,” said Rath.

With the playoff portion up next, Wevers knows a 5-0 record will be moot with a loss from here on in.

“It’s good to go 5-0 in the round-robin, but we know those games are in the past and all that matters is the next two.”

MacInnis said regrouping and refocusing for Wednesday won’t be an issue.

“They’re pretty good at coming back after a game of five errors and what not. They’re pretty good at focusing and moving onto the next one. The big thing about our team is they compete every game. So going into the semifinals I’m not worried about if they’re going to compete or not.”

Leroux earned the win for the Junior Bulls, going two and one-third innings, allowing two hits and striking out four.

Ethan Smith pitched the final two-thirds of the seventh, allowing one hit and striking out one.

Starter Silas Blair took the loss for Alberta, going one and one-third innings and surrendering three runs on five hits, walking one and striking out one.

In earlier action Monday, Ontario rep Oakville Whitecaps defeated the Sydney Sooners of the Maritimes 12-2 to finish the round-robin at 3-2 and earn their way into the playoffs.

The Whitecaps jumped out to a 9-0 lead after two innings on their way to the five-inning win as Riley Johnson led the way at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI.

Hitting leadoff, second baseman Alex Gaudet was 2-for-3 with three runs scored, and centre fielder Marshall Williams batted 2for-3 with one run scored and two RBI.

Ontario’s Michael Bowman added two RBI and three runs scored in the win.

For the Maritimes, Connor Campbell was 1for-2 with one run scored.

Trevor Smith started and pitched three shutout innings for the Whitecaps and striking out two before giving way to Travis Winteler, who went twothirds innings and allowed two runs on one hit, striking out two.

Cole Stevens took the loss for the Sooners.

In the first game of the day, Coquitlam Little League/Fraser Valley B.C. downed the NDG Lynx (Montreal) from Quebec 11-1 in five innings, scoring six runs in the fourth inning to secure a 3-2 round robin record.

B.C. scattered eight hits as leadoff hitter Zachary Laid batted 2-for-3 with one run scored and two RBI, while teammate Christiano Banco was 2-for2 with three runs scored.

B.C. left fielder Rykan Stovern was 1-for-3 with one run scored and two RBI.

For Quebec, Santiago Sanchez was 1-for-1 with one run scored and right fielder William Martinet was 2-for-2 with an RBI.

Marcellus Linen earned the win for B.C. pitching two innings and allowing one run on two hits, walking one and striking out two.

Michael Titleman took the loss for Quebec, going two and one-third innings and giving up five runs on four hits, walking one and striking out two.