The Red Lions kept up their winning ways last week, despite the fact they only had two hits against the visiting Stony Plain Mets.
The Red Lions took to Keller Field June 5, shutting out the Mets with a 3-0 score and maintaining their early season lead in the North Central Alberta Baseball League with an undefeated 3-0-1 record, the only team in the league without a loss at this point in the season.
A scheduled June 3 game in Edmonton against the Blackhawks was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts at the ball diamond and will be played later this summer.
”We took advantage of a bunch of walks in one inning there and we scored a couple runs on an error, an overthrow by the pitcher, then Nathan Brown singled in Sean Beaudoin that same inning and that was pretty much all we needed,” said skipper Chris Brand.
Curtis Burlet, who was among the top 10 pitchers in the league in 2018, pitched five scoreless innings in the victory, with no walks, no runs and two strikeouts in the outing.
“He pitched really well,” said Brand, adding that Taylor Heck was called upon for the additional two innings of relief to complete the game.
Brand credits the team’s defense for this particular victory.
“Our defense is what won us that game I think, though. There was four diving catches,” he said.
Heck also made what Brand called an “MLB-like play” at third base early in the game, and was able to double off the runner at first with a quick throw to the bag.
“It was really well done,” he said.
The league also released lists of the top 10 pitchers and top 20 batters so far in the 2019 season June 3 and Red Lions are featured prominently on both.
Jordan Brand leads the league in batting average, coming in at .625, with five hits in eight at bats, four runs scored, three RBIs, three walks and two stolen bases.
Pat Rains is tenth in the league with a .400 average and Nathan Swap rounds out the top 20 hitters with a .333 average.
Pitcher Adam Sawatsky is tied for first in the league with a 0.00 earned run average, having pitched just three innings this season, but racking up three strikeouts and zero walks in those innings.
Kris Johnson appears eighth on the list of top 10 pitchers in the league, boasting a 1.91 ERA, after seven-and-a-third innings. Johnson has 10 strikeouts, six walks and six hits after facing 32 batters.
The Red Lions were in Waskatenau June 7-9 to take part in the Starchuk-Semeniuk Memorial Tournament. The results of the tournament are not counted towards final league statistics.
The team will be back on home turf June 11 to face the 4-1 second place Sherwood Park Athletics, followed by a double header on the road June 16 against the Edmonton Primeaus.
