YQL Sluggers silver at provincials

By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on August 2, 2022.

The YQL Sluggers bantam 15U Tier 3 baseball team settled for provincial silver after losing to the CPBA Calgary Redbirds 12-7 in the Provincial Championship at George Yoshinaka Field on Sunday night.

The Sluggers opened with a 12-6 loss to the Sherwood Park Athletic Gold on Friday and never let that shatter their confidence from there, as they bounced back with a 12-0 win over the Calgary City Royal Red on Saturday and beat Camrose Cougars 13-5 in the semi-final on Sunday right before the final game.

“I told the kids they learned something from today,” said Blake Babki, Sluggers coach.

“We talked all season long about the heat and the double header and making sure that we’re hydrated and nourished. But I was really proud of the guys. They hung in there and I’m not disappointed. I’m disappointed that we lost, sure, but I was really proud of the guys and hey, second place isn’t bad either.”

He felt the Redbirds had some pitching left and the Sluggers were running low on pitching.

“And I think we were tired,” said Babki.

” Thirty-five degrees, back to backs, six hours. I think we kind of ran out of gas.”

The team found success out of a rough start to season.

“We started off the season 1-10 and then we finished off the season 9-3,” he said.

“So we really came back strong. I thought that the boys battled back and we were prepared for this tournament. We just fell a little short.”

A majority of the team will be back next year in hopes of getting back to the championship game.

“We’re going to come back next year bigger and stronger and ready to kick some butt,” he said.

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