Red Deer Midget A Braves are the 2018 Central Alberta Baseball League champions after mounting a comeback against Lacombe.
The Braves beat the Lacombe Dodgers 2 10-9, in the CABL championship game over the weekend.
Down 5-1 early in the game, head coach Rob Wallace said it was “quite a comeback.” The Braves battled back to be down 9-8 after the third inning. Then Mason Jorgensen took over on the mound.
“It was a very close game going into the fifth,” said Wallace. “We managed to battle back to 9-9. We were up 10-9 in the bottom of the seventh and our pitcher went in and got three up and three down.”
Jorgensen not only retired the last three batters of the final inning, he got 12-straight batters out and sealed the win.
Kayden Robinson led the offence with five RBIs. Wallace said it was like a switch flipped with the batters midway through the game.
“I just said point-blank, we can either let these guys beat us, or push hard and get through this,” said Wallace. “We got one run in, but it was that one run that made all the difference.”
The Braves finished the regular season 9-2-1 and won the Lacombe Dodgers tournament, held earlier in June.
“This is one of the best groups of kids I’ve had in a very long time,” said Wallace. “The whole team stuck together the whole season, right through the tournament in Lacombe we won and the season ender.”
After completing a successful 9-2-1 season, and winning the Lacombe Dodgers tournament in early June, Red Deer Midget A Braves finished off the year with a come-from-behind win in the league final against Lacombe.
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