They may have preferred to settle their differences on the field, but the final four teams remaining in the Prairie Qualifiers for The Road to Okotoks got what they came for.
What started as 13 teams vying for three spots in the inaugural event in Okotoks later this summer turned into a battle of four.
Vauxhall Academy punched their ticket with a win over Baseball Sask, who was set to play the loser of a second semi-final between Sylvan Lake Gulls Prep and AHP Academy in the third-place game.
Then … the rain started.
And it didn’t let up as Baseball Canada officials determined they couldn’t complete the regional qualifier, putting into question what would happen with the three teams who all had great records coming out of the round-robin.
With a wildcard spot also up for grabs, it was decided that instead of relying on a coin-flip or lottery situation, the three teams all earned their spots in the mid-July dance.
Now the real work begins as teams get ready for what is expected to become a major annual event on Canada’s baseball radar.
THE ROAD FOR VAUXHALL ACADEMY
The first team out of the west to nab a spot in the national event is a rival of the hosts in Okotoks.
The Vauxhall Academy Jets took care of business early in the tournament with a 12-0 victory over Dawgs White to open up the Prairie Qualifier.
Hudson Nikkel led the offense with a pair of homers and three RBI while Kaleb Bozek, Will Zielinski, Jaxon George and Matthew Getz also drove in two runs each.
They then outlasted Home Run Academy (Winnipeg) 9-6 and blasted the Calgary Bucks 14-3.
Then the Jets had to put on the afterburners with a trio of games on Saturday, starting with a tight 2-1 loss to Gulls Prep, before hammering the Webber Wildcats 11-1 and punching their ticket to the main event with a 9-5 win over Team Saskatchewan to ensure they would finish no lower than second overall.
Getz and Nikkel led Vauxhall with .500 batting averages over the course of the tournament, with Nikkel pacing the team in home runs (four). Sharing the lead in RBI (nine) were Nikkel, Zielenski and Easton Kitura. Garrett Thiessen and Calum Andersen led the pitching staff with 10 strikeouts each.
THE ROAD FOR TEAM SASKATCHEWAN
Another team to set a very early tone in the Prairie Regionals was Team Saskatchewan.
A 10-run fourth inning allowed them the 18-3 mercy win over the Calgary Premier Blues to open up their round-robin action.
Rhett Anderson led the way offensively going 3-for-4 with three RBI while Jarrett Rude also drove in three. Six players scored two runs each in the contest.
The offense kept rolling in their second game of opening day as they downed Dawgs Academy Red 13-5 thanks to every player nabbing a hit and all but one scoring a run.
Team Saskatchewan kept the good times rolling on day two win a 10-6 win over ATHX Academy and a 6-1 victory over the Calgary Cubs to finish the round-robin 4-0.
The only blemish on their record came on semi-final Saturday when they fell to Vauxhall.
Anderson and Kash Berg led the offense with .467 batting averages while only one player, Trentin Kooy, went yard as the Saskatchewan offense was one of the most balanced attacks of the qualifiers. Dylan Pura and Keaton Lejan led the hurlers with seven strikeouts apiece.
THE ROAD FOR AHP ACADEMY
It didn’t come easy, but AHP Academy came out of the round-robin looking like a team ready to make a deep run with its pitching depth and balanced offense.
They started things off with a 7-4 win over the Webber Wildcats thanks to an outstanding performance from Sam Davis, who struck out 10 in six innings of work while Tyler Diprose picked up two hits and three RBI.
Jayden Kane then played hero by hitting a walk-off single in a 4-3 victory over the Parkland Twins.
The Renegades then got an eight-strikeout performance out of Kaysen Young to shutdown the Calgary Cubs 7-2 before finishing up the unbeaten run with a 13-11 victory over Dawgs Red.
They were set to take on Gulls Prep in the semis before the storm clouds rolled in.
Michael Szpak led all AHP hitters with a .545 batting average while Kale Harsch hit the team’s lone homer. Harsh, Kane and Jax Mitzel tied for the lead in RBI with four. On the hill, Davis’ lone performance netted him the team lead in punchouts.
THE ROAD FOR GULLS PREP
They had to hold on for dear life a couple of times, but Gulls Prep were ready to make some noise heading into the semis and a potential final.
The Sylvan Lake squad started strong with a 10-1 trouncing of the Calgary Bucks. Bo Anderson led the offense with a single and two doubles, driving in two.
They started the Friday off with a 6-4 win over Home Run Academy (Winnipeg) and then suffered a 15-5 loss to Dawgs White.
The Gulls rebounded nicely with a 2-1 nailbiter over Vauxhall, as the strong pitching duo of Cole Dickinson and Lucian Barker kept the Jets bats in check while Wyatt Schmidt delivered the offense with a two-run double.
The pitching again did the heavy lifting for the Gulls in a quarterfinal matchup with ATHX, as Braxton Bussing threw six shutout innings with six strikeouts before Keaton Rusnak shut the door in a 3-0 victory.
They were set to play AHP had the rain not settled in.
Offensively, the Gulls were paced by Owen Coumont, who hit .467 over his five games. Anderson and Paxton Overwater hit homers with Overwater claiming the RBI crown with five. Bussing’s performance gave him the strikeout lead among pitchers.
THE ROAD TO BE TAKEN
The field has officially been set with 16 teams set to play for the Morneau Cup, including seven spots coming from Ontario and four from B.C. joining the four Prairie teams. The hosts from Dawgs Academy in Okotoks await them all.
The Ontario/East teams will include the HPP Tigers, Terriers Baseball, Frontier Baseball (Maritimes), Etobicoke Rangers, Ontario Kobras, Diamond Baseball Academy (Quebec) and the Ontario Blue Jays.
The B.C. teams that punched their tickets to Okotoks include the Abbottsford Cardinals, Langley Blaze, Victoria Eagles and UBC Thunder.
“These qualifiers delivered exactly what we had hoped for,” Baseball Canada CEO Jason Dickson said in a news release unveiling the 16-team bracket. “We saw a high level of competition across all three qualifers and a strong commitment from programs across the country. We’re excited to welcome this group to Okotoks and continue building what we believe will become the premier amateur event in Canada.”
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