With only a couple more weeks left, the Ponoka mosquito baseball squad still has some learning to do.
The club suffered its first loss of the season when it hosted Lacombe May 30 and fell 8-6 at the Riverside diamonds. The team started out the year with six straight victories, several of those by more than seven runs.
Despite the success, coach Scott Bresee explained the focus has been on developing the skills to be better all-around players as the kids move into higher levels while also keeping things fun.
“We have some good pitching and the kids are starting to play good defence,” said Bresee.
“The players are making good contact on everything, so the hitting is going well. With all of that, it has made it easier to make the year fun for the team.”
The team this season is about evenly split between first and second year players, making for what Bresee stated is a strong mix of experience and enthusiasm.
“They are all learning and improving,” he said.
“What has been important for us coaches is getting them all to communicate on the field. We have kids that don’t really know each other well as they are in different schools. So, it’s been all about helping them to get to know each other and talk to each other in order to develop a sense of team and build upon those relationships.”
From the bull pen — The squad was scheduled to play last night (June 6) at home to Clive (result unavailable at press time), which leaves the club with just three regular season games left.
Ponoka, prior to this week’s game, sat at the top of the Central Alberta Baseball League’s east division standings with a record of 7-1 and having outscored their opponents by a count of 94-36.
The team will play its final regular season game on June 20 at home to Bashaw. Game time is 6:30 p.m. at the Riverside #3 diamond.