The Westlock Grey Lions are a win away from the Alberta West Central Baseball Association championship.
The club’s 11-10 victory over the Spruce Grove Eagles Aug. 17 at Keller Field gives them a 1-0 lead in best-of-three championship series, with Game 2 slated for Aug. 22.
Skipper Sheldon McConaghy said that he had expected the game to be a bit easier than how it turned out.
“That game was intense,” he said. “Definitely wasn’t a pitcher’s game. It was all bats tonight.”
The Eagles came out of the gate strong, racking up four runs in their first inning.
The Lions were able to best that, however, scoring six runs of their own before the second.
From there on in, the Lions dominated, first shutting down the Eagles with a double play to turn over the plate, then collecting another three runs to give themselves a comfortable 9-4 lead.
While the Eagles were able to inch their way back, grabbing three runs in the third inning and another in the fourth, Lions legend Dean Fagnan was able to capitalize on a sacrifice hit to slide into home plate, closing the fifth inning with an 11-8 lead.
The Eagles were able to creep up the scoreboard to 11-10, but McConaghy shut down the rally when he dropped into the splits to catch a fly ball.
“Everyone had a few good hits,” said McConaghy. “We had a few rough innings but we came through in the end.”
Originally, the Lions were scheduled to play the Edmonton Heat on Aug. 15, but the Heat forfeited the game because they couldn’t get enough players together.
McConaghy said the Lions would do some minor tweaking to their systems, but otherwise were ready for Tuesday.
