Dust Devils baseball: Double wins for Juniors, home opener for Minors

Jagger Hann batting for the Juniors Dust Devils
Elliott Nemeth photo

• Juniors Dust Devils come from behind for second win of the season
• Minors host Fort Macleod
• Two games scheduled for Coach Pitch
• Fort Macleod Royals Little League Baseball Camp Sunday, May 25
• SASG volunteers needed
• 2014 Girls Baseball Day Camps

Double wins for Junior Dust Devils

On May 13 the Juniors earned their first win of the season, defeating Fernie 7-6.  On April 30th the Dust Devils hosted Cardston, losing 13 - 12.  On May 15 they turned the tables, again hosting Cardston, but this time the Dust Devils came from behind to win it 12-11 

Bases loaded, bottom of the 7th and final inning, score at 11-11, Josh Conley at bat, bam, and Jagger Hann runs home for the win.   Sweet.

photos and video Elliot Nemeth and Chris Davis

The May 15 game was played at Pincher Creek's Sproule Field.  A rainy spell greeted the beginning of the game, but gradually dissipated for the most part as the evening continued.  A small but vocal crowd was treated to an evenly matched contest between competitive teams.  Matthew Duncan, Michael Svab, and Brandon Giesbrecht pitched for the Devils.

Michael Svab pitching
E. Nemeth photo

Dust Devils Coach Bryan Mackenzie indicated he was particularly pleased with the way the team performed in the previous game.  "We played Fernie out in Sparwood, on Tuesday night." he explained.  Sparwood is Fernie's home field.  "We played a heck of a game.  We pitched three different kids, and every kid pitched very, very well that night.  We had two excellent efforts from our catchers behind the plate, two different kids.  It was a good team effort out there on Tuesday.  7-6 ball game, couldn't ask for anything better.  For us, we go our first 'W'."

"Tonight was a nice one-run game, but like I said to the kids after the game, we could have laid down and died, because we had a terrible start, but you watch any game and there's usually one inning that's not worth a darn, and then you pull it together." 

"I told these guys you have two choices," Coach Mackenzie continued.  "You can come in the dugout and pout, cry, and whine, or you can suck it up and you can show some perseverance and some heart, and they did that tonight."

"On Tuesday night in Sparwood our fielding was amazing. We really did well out there on the fielding on Tuesday.  Our kids can hit.  We throw a BP (batting practice) to them and if they can hit us as coaches they're going to hit anybody in this league, and they can do it.  It was good.  They showed some heart tonight and came back I'm pretty proud of them."

"We hit the ball well tonight, we were patient at the plate.  We made a couple errors in the field there, but not bad."

The Juniors Dust Devils have a game scheduled for next Thursday night in Cardston.  

Juniors Dust Devils 2014 roster

#1 Josh Conley

#2 Colter VanEe

#5 Deloy Mackenzie

#6 Brandon Giesbrecht 

#7 Nic Harder

#8 Michael Svab 

#9 Ethan Watt   

#12 Beau Walter

#15 Bryce Conley 

#16 Matthew Duncan

#19 Jagger Hann   

Chase Snider

Minors Dust Devils host Fort Macleod

Pincher Creek's Minors Dust Devils hosted the Fort Macleod Region Mavericks at Juan Teran Park on Wednesday May 14.It was the second game of the season for the Dust Devils, and their home opener.  They played an away game in Claresholm on May 12.  Claresholm emerged the victor of that contest.  The weather was perfect for baseball on Wednesday, and both teams (and spectators) made the most of it, playing full on from beginning to end.  Riley, Koltyn, Brody, and Kate all took turns on the mound to pitch for the Devils. The Minors Devils are a very co-ed team, and I suspect that's going to prove to be one of their biggest assets. They've got some rough edges, but they're beginning to gel, and that next level of performance is most definitely within their grasp. 

In the end the Mavericks emerged victorious, 18-10, after some costly errors for the Devils. Score aside, it was a relatively well balanced contest, and both teams stepped up to the plate with enthusiasm, perhaps eager to shake the dust off as they enter the all-too-short season.   Great fun to watch.  The Mavericks earned their victory the old fashioned way, by emphasizing teamwork, and their fielding abilities helped them to their win.

William Johnson Junior

Brody pitching

Kate pitching

Upcoming:

The Fort Macleod Royals are hosting a Little League Baseball Camp on Sunday, May 25 from 12:00-4:00 at the Westwinds Stadium in Fort Macleod.  $10.00 per player, all ages are invited to attend.  See Carrah Pinder-Walter to sign up.

Coach Pitch has an away game scheduled against Fort Macleod on May 28, 6:15 pm at the west diamond. It will be their first game of the season. Then they plan to host Fort Macleod on June 11 at at Juan Teran Park in Pincher Creek. Come out and cheer on our young athletes.

Carrah is also looking for volunteers for the upcoming Southern Alberta Summer Games (SASG), including First Aiders, concession workers, score keepers, pitch counters, and grounds keepers.  Also, visit the SASG website at www.southernalbertasummergames.com

2014 Girls Baseball Day Camps

Female members of Team Canada and Team Alberta will be instructing female baseball players age 7 and older from all leagues and associations in Alberta at three different venues:
Edmonton - Friday, May 30
Calgary - Saturday, May 31
St. Albert - Friday, June 6

All participants must register online in advance. Click here to visit the SAMBA website.

Visit www.albertagirlsbaseball.com for updated news on girls baseball events.