A Lacombe minor baseball team has won a championship — a victory that meant a lot more for some players, who captured the title in their final season before graduating.
The Lacombe Dodgers Blue beat the Red Deer Rangers 1 by a score of 18–3 to claim the 18U Central Alberta Baseball League (CABL) Tier 1 championship on their home field at Michener Park on Sunday.
The game ended early due to the possibility of a rainout, but the chance of showers didn’t dampen their joy, according to Dodgers head coach Jaden Etson.
“They always dreamed of it as they said, they played ten, maybe 12 years here in Lacombe and never were able to come out on top on the weekend," said Etson. "So, the kids sure had a great time celebrating that day.”
As a first-year head coach, Etson was impressed with his team and said he probably couldn’t have asked for a better experience.
“(We had) a lot of kids that knew how to play and just needed small tweaking here and there and they all showed up,” he said.
“Like I said to them all year, coach only does five per cent, the other 95 per cent is on them.”
For many of the players, this marks their final year playing for Lacombe Minor Baseball — but they can leave as champions.
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