The Westlock Grey Lions' season is over.
After a heartbreaking 7-6 loss in extra innings at home in Game 1 against the Edmonton Heat Aug. 9, the squad was unable to regroup and dropped Game 2 of the Alberta West Central Baseball Association semi-final series 8-1 Aug. 10, putting them out of contention for another championship.
"Our bats kind of went cold, and they were still on fire from the game on Thursday," said manager Sheldon McConaghy. "It was a great season, but we came up short in the end."
Game 1 was a back-and-forth affair.
The Grey Lions took an early 3-1 lead, but the Heat scored two in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game at three.
From there the visitors scored a two-run double then cashed in another on a bloop single to leave the Lions trailing 6-3.
It took until the bottom of the sixth inning for the Grey Lions bats to wake up again when Dean Fagnan hit a two-run double to the fence making the score 6-5 in favour of the Heat.
An outfield error by the Heat and a throwing error to third on the play allowed the Grey Lions to score to tie up the game at six.
The home team managed to load the bases in the bottom of the final inning but couldn't convert the hits into runs, as the two evenly matched teams took the game into extra innings as the sun started to set.
The Heat scored a single run in the top of the eighth inning, which was enough to cement the loss for the Lions and take the two teams to Game 2 of the series in Edmonton.
Things just didn't come together for the team in Edmonton, said McConaghy, as they dropped Game 2 8-1.
Despite the early exit from the playoffs though, McConaghy considers the season to be a great success.
"We ended up with a 13-2 record and had a really good season. We had some new guys come out and contribute, and it was a fun season," he said.
