Emotions were high for the Westlock U-16 Wild Bantam ‘A’ club as they claimed gold at the Pembina/Sturgeon Baseball/Softball League year-end tournament in Thorsby June 22-24 for their fellow teammate Blain Rinas, who missed most of the season after being diagnosed with cancer.
Five pitchers took to the mound through the four-game tournament, including Rinas’ close friend Kadin Chamzuk, who wore a “No one fights alone” band in support.
“We carried his jersey around all season long,” said head coach Gary Petryshen.
“I stopped at his place on the way home and gave Blain his gold medal after the tournament. He’s doing absolutely fine. His mom and dad say he’s on the road to a full recovery.
“He’s actually hoping to be ready for hockey this fall.”
Capping off a brilliant season which saw the Wild undefeated since May, the boys came out swinging during the opening round robin portion of the tournament, defeating Fort Saskatchewan 16-12 before making short work of the St. Albert 5 team with a 20-2 blowout.
This put them into the semifinal against Southwest Edmonton Minor Ball, who the Wild overcame 9-7. In the final round against St. Albert 3, the teams traded the lead several times but Westlock finally came out on top with a 19-17 victory, capped with two home runs.
“One of the home runs bounced off the assistant coach’s truck and landed in the back of my truck. It was kind of fitting,” said Petryshen.
“They were very excited,” he added. “Last year was pretty rough, so it was good for them. Everyone contributed a lot to what we did this year. Our pitchers were very consistent and understood completely that we were there to win it.”
While the Wild could potentially play in provincials throughout July, Petryshen said the team decided to stop here. Many of the players wanted to rest up for hockey and with the short summers some were eager to get off to vacationing with their families.
Petryshen expressed his thanks to the community and parents for their ongoing support for the team.
“I want to thank all the parents and grandparents who came out to our games all season long,” he said. “We had a lot of fun playing in front of everybody. I also really want to thank Dean McCoy and Dean Fagnan, my assistant coaches as well as Linda McCoy, my manager. She kept all of us organized all season long. It was a really fun year.”
