The 2024 baseball season has officially begun in Red Deer.
The U18 AAA Red Deer Tier II Porttin Pipeline Braves are off to a hot start meanwhile the U18 AAA CarStar Braves Tier I look to get back on track this week.
After the Tier II team went 1-3 on opening weekend at the end of April, they rectified their season over the weekend to improve their record to 5-3.
They swept their four-game series against the Neutral Hills Wranglers on the road in Veteran, Alta. to post a winning record for the first time this year in the Baseball Alberta Provincial League. They're now tied for second place in the standings.
It all started on Saturday when they edged the Wranglers 6-5 and 14-10 followed by 12-9 and 11-5 victories on Sunday.
They'll now head back on the road this week to take on the Calgary Bisons in a four-game series on Saturday, May 11, and Sunday.
Meanwhile, the CarStar Braves got off to a slow start in their opening weekend posting a 1-3 record.
On May 4 and 5 the Braves opened the Baseball Alberta Elite League season on the road in Spruce Grove with a four-game series against Parkland Twins Gold.
Red Deer dropped their first two games of the weekend 4-2 and 8-2 before blowing the Twins out on Sunday morning 13-0. Parkland responded in the fourth game of the series beating the Braves 3-2 in a nail-biter to wrap up the series.
The Braves will now turn their focus to the home opener this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. They'll welcome the Midwest Prairie Pirates to Great Chief Park for a four-game series beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
They'll play again at 6 p.m. before playing two more games on Sunday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Currently, the Braves are tied with the Calgary Bucks for fourth place in the league standings.