The Red Deer CarStar Braves have put themselves in a position to do something special in the Baseball Alberta Elite League U18 AAA Tier I provincial championships this week.
Starting Thursday, the number one ranked Braves, who finished the season with a 33-6-0 record, will head to Sherwood Park in a quest to be crowned provincial champs.
The Braves are a part of Pool A with the Parkland Twins Gold, Sherwood Park Dukes, Calgary Cubs, and the Okotoks Dawgs. In Pool B, which will be played in Edmonton, has the Calgary Bucks, Edmonton Padres, St. Albert Cardinals, Camrose Cougars, and Neutral Hills Wranglers.
Head coach of the Braves Josh Zanolli told the Advocate they’re feeling as good as they possibly can ahead of the tournament.
“We’ve been playing really well. Anything can happen in a short tournament but we feel pretty good about the way we’ve been pitching lately and we’ve been scoring a bunch of runs,” Zanolli said. “Hopefully we can continue to play well and hopefully win this thing. It’s going to be a tough tournament.”
The Braves open up the tournament against the Calgary Cubs on Thursday at 3 p.m. On Friday, July 29 they take on the Okotoks Dawgs at noon and the Sherwood Park Dukes at 6 p.m. Day three on Saturday the Braves will play the Parkland Twins Gold at 6 p.m.
The Braves are not short of talent in the lineup as Gavin Galenza has led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
Ryley Doig has also been great in the batter’s box finishing second in both quality at-bats and combined slugging and on-base percentage. Additionally, Doig finished third in the league in batting average. Heath Hachkowski also led the league in runs batted in.
Zanolli said at the beginning of the season the coaching staff felt the team would be strong but did not anticipate finishing first in the league.
“I think we’ve played a little bit better than what I thought we would be, especially offensively. We kind of knew we would have a really good defence and pitch really well but offensively we’ve hit really well so that’s been a nice surprise,” Zanolli added.
Multiple provincial champions
A number of Red Deer Braves’ squads have already brought home provincial titles this season. The 11U AA Tier 7, 13U AA Tier 7, and 11U AA Tier 7 Braves were all crowned provincial champions earlier this month.
After a great season the 18U AAA Tier II Jules Oilfield Braves came up just short going 1-2 in provincials in Sherwood Park. Furthermore, the 13U AAA Mr. Suds Braves won silver after losing to the Calgary Cardinals. The 15U AA Tier II Budal Braves lost in the semi-final of their tournament.