Back in full swing — high school baseball returns to the diamond

By Lethbridge Herald on April 15, 2015.

Nick Kuhl
Lethbridge Herald
nkuhl@lethbridgeherald.com
Baseball is back at Spitz Stadium.
It’s still more than a month until the Lethbridge Bulls open their season, but high school baseball action commenced Tuesday.
Beginning in 2014, the four Lethbridge teams — CCH, Chinook, LCI and Winston Churchill — along with Raymond, decided to create a new circuit dubbed the Lethbridge Regional High School Baseball League (LRHSBL). This year, they’ve added Kate Andrews from Coaldale to make it a six-team league.
Tuesday’s opening day games saw LCI down Raymond 13-3, CCH defeat Kate Andrews 15-5, and WCHS beat Chinook 18-8.
With a 10-game schedule, each team will play each other  two times.
The first and second seeds from that format will earn byes in the playoff tournament, while No. 3 will play No. 6 and No. 4 and No. 5 will play quarter-finals. Those winners will then play the top seeds in the semis to determine the final game — set for Lloyd Nolan Yard on May 22.
“We held a meeting, pitched the idea, and everyone seemed on board,” said Omar Kadir, the league’s vice-president and a coach of the WCHS team, who won last season’s title.
“We were just looking for a way to be more efficient with our league and tried to figure out what’s best for the kids around our area. We just decided to separate and create a league with rules and circumstances that fit our needs,” he continued.
“It was just easier to organize something that was more local. We were ready for something new. We have an agreement with the outside teams, also, and it just worked out that way.”
Some of the cited reasons included the tolls on students, travel costs, and field availability. All the league’s schools and teams had input, while the other 21 high school baseball teams in the region have formed two divisions in what is called the Southern Alberta High School Baseball League.
“The tradition in the high schools around here have the rivalry already,” Kadir said.
“I think the baseball’s been good and I think this will be another strong season as a league. The league overall is pretty even. I think anybody can beat anybody, which makes it exciting in this league.”
Wednesday’s lone LRHSBL game will see CCH and Chinook play at Spitz Stadium.

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