Improved pitching and defensively play have enabled the 麻豆视频east A鈥檚 U15 AA baseball team to play some of their best baseball of the season.聽
The A鈥檚, who are based out of Alameda but feature talent from throughout the southeast region, were riding a four-game winning streak, after defeating the Estevan Brewers 12-3 Thursday night in Estevan.聽
It was an 8-0 victory over the Brewers on July 23 that started the current run for the A鈥檚. Then they swept the Assiniboia Aces 13-8 and 13-4 in a doubleheader on the weekend in Alameda.
鈥淥ur bats have been good all year, but our pitching and defence was a little weak the first couple of games, not at the level we鈥檇 like to see it at, and we鈥檙e just starting to get back into playing complete ball games, and that鈥檚 been the difference,鈥� said coach Blair Beck.聽
The win over Estevan gave the A鈥檚 some much-needed confidence, as they were 1-5 to start the season.聽
Beck was pleased with how they pitched and hit the ball against the Aces.
The A鈥檚 have one player from each of Kipling, Moosomin and Alameda, four from Carnduff, three from Oxbow and two from Carlyle, so they certainly live up to their name as a regional team. With many of the players living more than 20 minutes away from Alameda, it shows their dedication that they make it to practices and games. 聽
鈥淟ast year we had all of April to have a training camp and get ready to go. We never had that this year, obviously, with COVID,鈥� said Beck. 鈥淢ost of these guys, over the years, have played together or played against each other, so they鈥檙e all pretty familiar, and we have a good group of kids and parents.鈥澛�
One of the things they鈥檙e most excited about is how well everyone gets along, and how committed they area.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy when you have to drive that far for some of the guys,鈥� said Beck.
Six players are back from last year鈥檚 team, and the year of growth, maturity and confidence has helped them drive the offence. Beck pointed out that last year they played 38 games and hit 15 homes runs.聽Already this year, they have hit a dozen home runs in nine games. 聽
鈥淭he main thing is just to keep that confidence going, and especially with our older guys and some guys that have lots of experience now, and are confident with what they can do,鈥� he said.
League play will continue until early September. Their league playoffs are expected to happen later that month, but there won鈥檛 be provincial tournaments this year. 聽
