The 2012 edition of the Red Deer Sports World Braves will kick off their midget AA baseball league season this weekend in Lacombe.
The Braves, under the direction of head coach Bob Ireland, will play three games, opening Saturday at 11 a.m. against the host Lacombe Dodgers.
The Braves face Rocky Mountain House at 11 a.m. and Innisfail at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Ireland has a 13-man roster with seven players in their final year of eligibility to go with two 17-year-olds and four 16-year-olds.
Alex Heinzlmeir, Chaz Piche, Jeff and Joe Ireland, Logan Marshall, Reid Stoyberg and Alex Mitchell are all third-year midgets with Teagan Calonna and Jayden Hutlet in their second year.
Jesse Kowalchuk, Tyler Galloway, Blake Thomson and Jesse Muirhead are in their first year.
Bob Ireland, who has never failed to reach the Tier I provincial finals, is in his seventh season as coach at the AA level, directing the peewees and bantams for two years and the midgets for three.
Dino Piche is in his fourth season as an assistant with Ireland with Jim Mitchell in his sixth and Bob Thomson his first.
Other games in Lacombe this weekend sees Innisfail facing Rocky at 2 p.m. and Lacombe at 5 p.m. on Saturday while Lacombe and Rocky clash Sunday at 5 p.m.