A dream start wasn’t quite enough for the Okotoks Outlaws to move on at provincials.
The Outlaws took their provincial opener and dropped a pair of narrow decisions to finish 1-2 as hosts of the Baseball Alberta 15U AA Tier IV championships, held Aug. 20-22 in Okotoks.
“They were extremely excited to get into the provincial championship play,” said Outlaws Orange head coach Tanner Strangway. “It’s been two long years of not having that available to them.
“I think they were very excited to get back, not to the point where they were nervous coming into games, but energetic and really excited to get back into some higher level competitive play.”
Okotoks opened the competition in terrific fashion with all facets of the game coming together for an 8-1 victory over the Parkland Twins.
“Day one of competition, the team played really well, we had probably one of our best games of the year against Parkland with regards to pitching and defensive play as well as offensive play. Just an all around good game by the team,” Strangway said.
Outlaws starter Tristan Reynolds went the distance for a complete game on the mound to lead the charge for the home team.
“He was unreal,” the coach said. “He pitched a complete game inside our pitch-count limitations and was outstanding and really stifled the Parkland offence, they couldn’t find a way to manage his mix of pitches. And it really helped us get off to a great start that day.”
The second game of the first day for the Outlaws saw the team edged out 7-6 by the Prairie Baseball Academy out of Lethbridge, the eventual tournament champions.
“They threw one of their better pitchers against us and we were down 7-2 going into the final inning,” the coach added.
“We scratched and clawed our way back to 7-6 and we just didn’t have quite enough to pull that one out.”
Jasper deBoer of the Okotoks Outlaws Orange swings away versus the South Jasper Place Jays at the 15U AA Tier IV championships. (Remy Greer/Western Wheel)The Outlaws were back in action early on day two in their round-robin finale and couldn’t erase an early deficit to the South Jasper Place Jays, who took the contest by a 9-6 score.
The loss eliminated the Outlaws from playoff contention.
“Our second day we kind of faltered a little bit, we struggled finding the strike-zone and our bats didn’t pick it up,” Strangway said. “Offensively, we couldn’t recover from some of our defensive struggles.
“We lost that game which put us out of contention for semifinals, but overall really proud of the kids. They tried their hardest and you could tell made every effort they could to do what they could to be successful.”
The Outlaws have only three players graduating to the next age group, there’s a sizeable portion of the team able to return at the 15U level next season.
“We really hope to see all of them comeback next year and tryout,” Strangway said. “And make 2022’s campaign a success.”
In the tournament final, PBA bested the Kitscoty Royals by a 7-2 score.
A three-way tie for top spot in Pool B between Kitscoty, Sylvan Lake Mariners and the Calgary Cubs saw the Royals come out as the top-seed with the Mariners and Cubs pitted in a two-versus-three tiebreaker match.
The Mariners won and advanced to the semifinal with the Jays earning the other playoff berth through Pool A along with the PBA.
“The weekend as a whole was a huge success,” Strangway added. “As most large hosting events go, there’s always some last minute hiccups, but overall it was really well organized and between ourselves and the Okotoks Dawgs (15U AAA championships) we worked together to make everything run really smoothly.”
For more information go to Okotoksoutlaws.com.
