What started as a strong season may come to an abrupt halt for the Red Lions, who dropped a pair of home games last week and now sit in fifth place in the North Central Alberta Baseball League.
The Red Lions fell 4-1 to the Sherwood Park Athletics July 25 and then dropped a 9-0 decision to the Edmonton Blackhawks July 28.
The losses leave the club with a 7-8 record and out of the playoff picture with only one game left to play, this Thursday, Aug. 3, versus the Sturgeon Paladins.
The St. Albert Cardinals sit in fourth with an 8-6 record, meaning the Cardinals need to lose their next two to give the Lions a chance of tying for fourth.
Making the losses even tougher is the fact that the game against the Blackhawks may be skipper Adam Sawatzky’s last, as he has taken a job promotion in Edson.
“The game was kind of characteristic of our whole season,” said Sawatzky following the Friday-night loss to the Blackhawks at Keller Field.
“We felt good, we felt competitive, we felt right there and we just ended up on the wrong end of a lot of scores this year. Mathematically we still have a chance at the playoffs, but it’s out of our hands now.”
The Red Lions made a few key errors in the first two innings against the Blackhawks, who got up 5-0 early. An accumulation of errors in the third allowed the Blackhawks to walk to home plate and make it 6-0.
However, the Blackhawks broke out again in the sixth inning, first loading the bases and then slowly trickling runners into home to make it 9-0.
“Not exactly how we wanted this game to go,” said Sawatzky. “This team seemed to deflate us and we never managed to bounce back. We let a couple innings get away from us.”
Now casting their gaze onto the Cardinals, the Lions are hoping their rivals manage drop the ball in their last two games — first against the Edmonton Primeaus, who are also in the race for the last playoff spot, then against the top-ranked Stony Plain Mets.
Sawatzky, who will not be able to play the last game against Sturgeon due to work commitments, said that after 16 years with the Lions he is going to miss everyone.
“I’m transferring for work, getting older and my priorities are changing a little bit,” he said. “I’m looking forward to have some more summer time to spend with my family. I’m sure I’ll still make it to a game or two, but this is a big change for us.”
“I’m going to miss hanging with the guys and being on the ball diamond,” he said. “But I’m looking forward to getting to Edson and getting started there.”
