SOUTHERN ALBERTA NEWSPAPERS JUSTIN SEWARD
Monsignor McCoy Colts pitcher Jayden Mook delivers a pitch during the Alberta Premier Baseball League final against the Catholic Central Cougars on Thursday night at Lloyd Nolan Yard. The Cougars doubled up the Colts 14-7 to win the APBL title.
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The Monsignor McCoy Colts senior high school baseball team fell short of a championship Thursday night in Lethbridge.
The Colts led the Catholic Central Cougars 6-5 after three innings, propelled by a four-run third, but couldn’t hold on as the Lethbridge school outscored McCoy 9-1 in the last four innings to claim the Alberta Premier Baseball League championship.
It’s the second straight APBL championship for the Cougars, back-to-back wins that followed a Colts championship in 2023 and a Medicine Hat High Hawks title in 2022.
Catholic Central opened the scoring with one run in the first inning Thursday, adding another run in the bottom of the second to match the Colts’ two-run second frame.
Cole Carlson doubled on a line drive to right field to bring in a run, and after a single from Nixon Kunkel, Easton Kurpjuweit brought in a run off a fielders choice groundout.
The Colts grabbed a 6-5 lead after three innings with the four runs in the third.
JJ Harnett scored on a line drive to left field off the bat of Tate Bowal to kick off the inning.
After Liam Cunningham got on base via an error, Ethan Grad drove in a run to make it a 4-2 McCoy lead.
Two batters later, a Kurpjuweit sacrifice fly to centre field and a single to left field off the bat of Asha Frey made it a 6-2 Colts’ advantage in the frame. Catholic Central scored three runs in the bottom of the frame to make it a 6-5 game through three innings.
The Colts scored to start the fourth inning, with Cunningham driving in a run with a hit to right field.
The Cougars took over the game after that, scoring four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to lead 9-7 through four frames.
They added two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the bottom of the sixth for the 14-7 final score after seven innings.
Harnett started the game on the mound for the Colts, working 3.1 innings with two strikeouts.
Jayden Mook took over and worked an inning before Carlson pitched the last 1.2 innings of the game.
Harnett led the Colts’ offence with three hits and two runs scored. Grad had a pair of hits and runs scored, adding an RBI to his tally. Carlson had a pair of hits with an RBI and a run scored.
McCoy outhit the Cougars 14-6.
The Sr. Colts finish their season with a 15-3 record, earning their spot in Thursday’s final with a pair of playoff wins.
They beat the LCI Rams 7-6 on May 29, a victory that came two days after they topped the Eagle Butte Talons 8-2.
The APBL finals were to be held on Tuesday but were postponed due to weather.
McCoy was the lone Medicine Hat school to advance past the opening round of the APBL playoffs.
They beat the Talons (7-8) and the Hat High Hawks, entering the playoffs with a 3-6 record, lost 6-5 to the eventual champion Cougars on May 27.
