The Medicine Hat Mavs pose with their Junior League Alberta Championship banner after winning provincials last weekend in Calgary. - PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELE FREY
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Little League Intermediate AAA Mavs are off to the national stage.
The local little league club captured the Junior AAA provincial title last weekend in Calgary with a 14-4 win over CalWest.
Head coach Chad Frey said the tournament win was an amazing opportunity for his team.
“We have a young team in our club, we consist of 12 and 13 year olds and we were playing up with an 14 year old age group,” Frey said. “They are a special group, they found a way to get the job done. To win championships, that takes everybody and contributions from all involved and with the solid group of leaders that we have, they help foster a winning culture.”
The Mavs went 3-1 and finished in first place of the round robin with 62 runs scored. Because of that success, and because they beat CalWest in the round robin, the finals were a double knockout. Which meant Medicine Hat only had to win once to capture the championship while they would have to lose twice to finish second.
CalWest took the first contest 11-7 but the Mavs didn’t waste time in the second contest, winning 14-4 for the provincial banner.
Frey said it was all about executing in that final, and it was a treat to see the team pull together and get the win.
“It’s amazing to see. When you work hard, you hustle, you’re always positive and you demonstrate your love for the game, that’s contagious,” Frey said. “That’s how winning cultures are developed. We’re just so proud of how they played the game and how they love to leave it all out there, especially with the game on the line.”
They will travel to Lethbridge on Friday for the national tournament that gets underway Saturday morning with a noon contest between the Mavs (Team Alberta) and Team Ontario. The tournament is a 10-day affair with the championships being awarded Aug. 7
Frey said they’ve been working on getting used to the bigger fields ahead of the tournament.
“Our boys are still getting accustomed to the official size, Major League diamonds, so we continue to become familiar with those dimensions,” Frey said. “We’re looking to have a great, strong practice throughout the week and we’re just excited about the opportunity to represent Alberta and compete against other representatives from their provinces. It should be quite a special opportunity.”
He spoke highly about what it means for the player to represent their province on a stage like this tournament.
“It’s a situation that may not come around many times in a player’s life and these opportunities need to be embraced,” Frey said. “It’s about just getting all you can and doing what you can for your club to help the team win. It should be an awesome experience.”
