NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat High Hawks Trevin Ressler flips the ball to first base for an out in the Hawks semi-finals win over the Kate Andrews Pride on June 1 to earn their spot in the provincial finals.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat High Hawks varsity baseball team has a chance to complete a perfect season tonight.
The Hawks meet the Monsignor McCoy Colts in provincial finals action for the second year in a row, looking to repeat as champions of the Alberta Premier Baseball League.
Hawks head coach Cam Rittinger says they’re approaching the 5:30 p.m. contest at Athletic Park as just another baseball game.
“We play so many baseball games, we understand there’s ebbs and flows to seasons, ebbs and flows to games, you can’t get too high or too low,” Rittinger said.
The Hawks head into the finals with a 10-0 record, including regular season and postseason action. With a lot of the Hat High roster playing Legion baseball over the weekend, the Hawks had a relaxed practice on Monday before gearing up with a regular practice Tuesday ahead of the finals. Rittinger says that approach was to just dial in the pressure of what a win would bring Wednesday.
“We just have to take it back a little bit, have a little bit of fun and just enjoy the game, because it is just one game,” Rittinger said. “A pitcher could come out and dice, or a pitcher could come out and flop, it is what it is. We’re just going to put our best foot forward, have fun and at the end of the day, whatever happens, happens.”
The Hawks beat the Colts 2-0 last May to capture the 2022 provincial championship. That team was made up of a Grade 11 core that has led this season’s team to that perfect record. Grade 12 Hawk Trevin Ressler says they’re all excited for the opportunity to repeat and face their inner-city rival.
“There’s a lot of joking around, ” Ressler said. “It’s a lot of fun to play against your buddies, it kind of adds a bit of competition to it other than the game. It’s always fun to take it against your friends, it gives you a little bit of bragging rights.”
Hat High beat the Chinook Coyotes 10-0 on May 31 before topping the Kate Andrews Pride 15-7 on June 1 to earn their spot in the finals.
Rittinger said the buzz for the finals started growing early with baseball fans and those who had never seen the game getting excited for the city matchup. Unlike other sports located at the school, Rittinger says baseball games have a harder time getting attendance being off campus. He’s looking forward to what should be a large crowd at Athletic Park.
“When it’s against McCoy it just brings more eyes and shows the talent to a lot of the people who might have never seen a baseball game at that level,” Rittinger said. “We know that competitiveness is good for the kids, good for the city and for fans who haven’t come out and seen the Hawks here.”
The 2023 Hat High Hawks are a much deeper team than the 2022 squad, Rittinger says, with a balance of skill from the first player in the lineup to the 16th. Grade 12 Hawk Koby Eskestrand says their team chemistry has played a big part in their season success so far.
“We have a lot of guys who have played together our whole lives,” Eskestrand said. “Seven of us play in the summer for the Monarchs, so we play there, we bond there, but it’s just a bond between all of the guys. We’re a really tight-knit group and we have each other’s back. We’re always ready to play for each other.”
Before the Hawks can think about the potential of the perfect season and back-to-back championships, Ressler says they have to play better fundamental baseball.
“We have to play good on both sides of the ball,” Ressler said. “Lately we’ve been struggling on both sides. But I think we come with the right mentality, we should be able to take it.”
“The boys have to take care of the baseball,” Rittinger said. “It’s the little things, they get a guy on, you have to be able to take care of the bunt, pick up the baseball and take the outs that we’re given. If we do that, we’ve shown our bats will keep us in any game. We just have to make sure that we’re sound defensively.”
