Rain, rain, and more rain. Is it ever going to stop?
Only the weather gods in Alberta know for sure. Any respite from the drenching downpours that have soaked the field in St. Albert might come too late to allow the St. Albert Tigers to stage an eight-team senior baseball tournament this weekend.
That would be bad news to the BID Group Grays of Prince George, who left town Friday bound for St. Albert for the local all-star squad's first game action this season. The Grays are entered in a pool with the Parkland (Edmonton) White Sox, St. Albert Tigers Black and Red Deer Stags. The other pool has the Red Deer Riggers, Calgary Red Birds, St. Albert Tigers Orange and the Fort Saskatchewan A's.
The Grays began indoor workouts in January at Prince George secondary school gym and had a few spring sessions in the Northern Sport Centre fieldhouse while waiting for the snow to melt off Citizen Field. But the late start getting on the field and the fact they haven't played any games yet makes the Grays somewhat of mystery as to what they are capable of against senior opponents.
The Grays are made up of players from each of the seven teams in the Prince George Senior Baseball League. From a pool of 25 players, 14 went to St. Albert. That list includes pitchers Jon Bourassa, Scott Atherton, Garrett Cumpstone, Chris Clark, Jay Cook and Cody Cole of Quesnel. Pitcher Brandon Hunter didn't make the trip, nor did Jordan Koopmans.
Kalen Kirkpatrick, James Haviland, Dalton Jones, Jordan Roy, Paul Wilson, Angelo Desantis and Bryce Asham, who now lives in Edmonton, will also be with the team in St. Albert. Curtis Sawchuk, who has spent the last two seasons pitching in Texas for Vernon Junior College, will be available to play first base or as the designated hitter. But the 20-year-old Sawchuk is recovering from Tommy John shoulder surgery and won't be able to pitch this weekend.
"Hopefully, when it comes down to it, we'll be relying on our offence to win us games," said Kirkpatrick, the 23-year-old Grays player/manager. "Our pitching is looking fairly solid. We've had lots of guys coming to our indoor practices working on their pitching and wanting to get better."
The forecast for the Edmonton area is not looking promising, with rain expected today and Sunday, but the Grays are hopeful the tournament will be played.
The Grays have travel plans to visit Kelowna twice this summer. The first trip is for the five-day Canada Day tournament, a 12-team affair, followed by the B.C. provincial championship on the August long weekend. While all the Grays play in the PGSBL, their lack of playing time together could hurt their preparation for the provincial tournament. The Grays finished with a 1-2 record last year at the provincial playoffs in Trail.
"I think that's a huge disadvantage for us, because they probably play 40 to 60 games a year down south, said Grays coach Cory Therrien. "Here, we play 20 games in the senior league and in a year we only have nine games guaranteed as a team.
"Everybody works for a living and it's completely different for us, compared to a lot of the southern teams. It's always the same struggle, but it's just the guys' love of baseball that keeps us going."
