The Outlaws stepped to the plate and delivered when it mattered most.
Okotoks Outlaws Blue went undefeated to capture the Baseball Alberta 13U AA Tier 6 provincial title, earning the banner in a 9-3 win over Fort Saskatchewan in the final on Aug. 23 in Grande Prairie.
“It was a long trip up there and a great experience, 11 of our 12 players were all first years,” said Outlaws 13U head coach Nathan Thrift. “That was a good for them to experience their first year at 13U. Kudos to Grande Prairie to get the games in on Monday after the rain outs on Sunday.
“It was an exciting weekend and nice to go undefeated and fare so well there. I was impressed with how the kids came together and played their best games for that weekend.”
Team cohesion played a big role in its success.
Thrift said the team develop a close bond over the season with a handful of players new to not only Outlaws baseball, but to the community as a whole.
“The benefit we had, we talked a lot about this, the coaches and parents, this group really came together,” Thrift said. “We had three kids that were new to Okotoks and new to Alberta, one of them, and they came together as a team and friends.
“They’re friends for life now and I think that really helped them because they had each other’s back and were able to overcome in those first games where we were down in the first inning and they just stuck together as a team and pulled through.”
Okotoks powered to a 4-0 record with all four wins via the mercy rule in round-robin to advance through to the gold medal game.
Tournament MVP Anthony Scott — one of the trio of newcomers to the community along with Antoine Comeau and Grady Zanolli — got the start in the final with Gabriel Eckberg coming on in relief as the Outlaws dispatched Fort Saskatchewan by a 9-3 count.
“We were very fortunate because the whole weekend we didn’t use a lot of pitchers,” the coach added. “So we were able to have several pitchers (available). Anthony Scott got the start in that final game and we brought in (Eckberg) to close it out. It was nice, we only had to use two pitchers every game.”
At the plate, Scott, a shortstop and pitcher, and catcher Byron Thrift helped lead the way to continue strong seasons on the sticks. Thrift hit over .600 on the season with Scott batting over .500.
Impressively, the Outlaws could return most of their lineup for another season at the 13U level in 2022.
“We’re hoping to have the whole team return next year, with a couple of additions,” Thrift said. “We only lose one moving up (in age) so that’s kind of exciting to know that we can stick together for another season.”
The Outlaws 13U roster: Cohen Padget, Kohen Peters, Jason Provost, Brant Milford, Grady Zanolli, Kruz deBoer, Anthony Scott, Gabriel Eckberg, Marcus Cutforth, Simon Tonner, Antoine Comeau and Byron Thrift.
For more information go to okotoksoutlaws.com.
