Aces place fourth in Western Canada, Astros fall at Nationals as seasons come to an end

The Aces ended pool play at 4-2, which got them a berth into the quarterfinals as a top four team. There, they rematched with the Magic, and although it was a closer result, the Aces dropped the do-or-die contest by a score of 10-8, placing them fourth in the tournament and Western Canada.

Local teams return home from B.C. at National Championship

The Prince Albert Astros had two teams representing in Surrey, B.C., with the U15 and U17 groups at the Men’s Canadian Fastpitch Championships, along with the U15 Valley Blue Jays and U17 Parkland Wildcats.

The U17 Astros made it to the playoffs in the losers’ bracket on Saturday after placing third in the Red Pool during the round robin at 3-2. There, they dropped a lopsided affair that saw Ontario’s Tara Twins end P.A.’s championship hopes with an 8-0 victory.

The Twins went on to lose the following game to Équipe Québec, 5-4, who then won their next two games on Sunday to make it to the championship game. However, the Québecois ran out of gas in their final fight as Nova Scotia’s Brookfield Elks claimed gold with a 5-1 win. Taking third place on the podium was Ontario’s Elmira Heat.

The Valley Blue Jays of the Twin Rivers Region, south of Prince Albert (Rosthern, Hague, Laird, and surrounding areas), were in the opposite pool as the Astros and finished fifth in the round robin. At 1-4, their only win came over the Yukon Sundogs via a dominant 11-1 showing. Despite not making the playoffs, the Jays played in the consolation bracket where they downed the host Cache Creek Chaos 8-1, before falling in the consolation final to Team Newfoundland, 9-2.

(Image Credit: Prince Albert U17 Astros group/Facebook)

The U15 Astros had a rougher go in their tournament, which happened to be the first ever time they’ve competed at a national championship.

Their inexperience was prevalent as the team sat at the bottom of the standings following pool play at 1-5, with their lone win coming over the other Saskatchewan representative in Shell Lake’s Parkland Wildcats via a 4-1 decision.

In the loser’s bracket of the playoffs, the Astros and Wildcats would face off again in the first game on Saturday morning in a do-or-die match that ended with the same result, 4-1 for P.A. The Astros then played later that afternoon versus the Tara Twins where their run came to an end, with Tara taking down P.A., 7-1.

The loser’s bracket continued to leapfrog until Team Newfoundland faced off with Équipe Québec for the gold medal. That game saw the Québecois prevail in a narrow 6-5 win. Claiming bronze was Ontario’s Napanee Express.

Pryce Schrader was named an All-Star infielder. Tyson MacGillivray threw 750 pitches over 8 games and had 40 strikeouts in 42 innings.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

by Logan Lehmann

Aces place fourth in Western Canada, Astros fall at Nationals as seasons come to an end

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