The U18 Central Alberta Sox recently won the Best of the West Icebreaker Tournament held in Kamloops from April 10 – 13, defeating the Okanagan A’s in the final by a score of 8-4.
Held by Big League Experience, the baseball tournament invites competitive teams from across Canada to participate.
The baseball team based out of Red Deer has members from all over Central Alberta, with the farthest member from Bonnyville, who is billeting and attending school in town.
“We have a few kids from out in Rocky Mountain house, one kid from Lacombe, Camrose, Wetaskiwin and there's about seven kids from Red Deer,” said head coach Saad Samuel.
It wasn’t an easy tournament for the team, who had to overcome several challenges before even stepping on the field. The bus ride there was severely delayed, taking 16 hours when it should have only been 10.
“We got up the next morning and played at 9:00 in the morning and then played again at 2:00 and we ended up winning both those games,” said Samuel.
“They kind of set the tone for the tournament, so it was good.”
It was also the team’s first time playing outside this spring since their training facility is The Dome Red Deer, an indoor facility.
“That's usually the biggest challenge for opening teams going out there,” Samuel admitted.
“It's being behind as far as game play is concerned.”
Despite all this, the group showed incredible tenacity and determination, losing only one game the entire weekend and winning the entire tournament as newcomers.
Samuel enjoyed the tournament and hopes that they will be invited back in the fall and spring.
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