It’s been a tough season for the Parkland Expos ‘AAA’ baseball team in their first go-around at the ‘AAA’ level as the team has struggled at times with offence, defence and pitching.
However for one member of the team, the 2015 season has been one of personal success.
Tyson Black, a second year midget pitcher, has put together quite the impressive SPBL ‘AAA’ season, going 5-4 over eight starts and one relief appearance on the mound, posting an ERA of 3.26 while striking out 56 and allowing just 19 walks over 49.1 innings of work.
The five wins (all complete game efforts) put Black in a six-way tie for the league lead and gives him over half of his team’s total wins (Parkland had eight all season) while his 56 strikeouts place him third overall behind Nolan Legien (Regina Athletics) and Jerad Coghill (Northwest Prairie Pirates) who have 66 and 60 strikeouts respectively.
Black’s ERA of 3.26 ranks him 15th overall, however his 49.1 innings of work means he has also pitched more than anyone else in the league all while having the worst defence in the league behind him (the Expos gave up 259 runs over the season, 29 more than the next closest team the 鶹ýAVeast Legacy Twins).
Add his strong 2015 campaign to his previous seasons – all equally as impressive – and one can see why Baseball Saskatchewan chose the ace of the Parkland Expos’ pitching staff to once again be a part of the provincial team heading to the Canada Cup from August 5-9 in Saskatoon; a tournament that Black has prior experience in. “I was on Team Sask last year for this tournament, but I didn’t play a lot although it was really nice to see the high calibre baseball that is played there and it was nice to see how I measured up against some of the better players in Canada,” Black told Yorkton This Week on Saturday afternoon, adding his experience last year will prepare him for what’s to come at this year’s tournament. “Because of that experience, this year I’ll know what to expect and know what I have to do to succeed and that experience last year helps to get me ready for this year.”
Last years’ experience at the Canada Cup will also mean that Team Saskatchewan will be looking towards Black for some veteran leadership, meaning he’ll most likely get a couple of the tougher starts in the tournament. “I think I’ll be one of the main starters this year, unlike last year,” offered Black. “I started a couple of games in Arizona this year for our camps, so I think I’ll end up as a starter.
“If not though, then I’ll pitch wherever they want me to.”
Black and Team Saskatchewan open the 2015 Baseball Canada Cup up on Wednesday, August 5 against their prairie rivals, Team Manitoba, at 8:00p.m. at Saskatoon’s Cairns Field.
Team Saskatchewan will then play Newfoundland and Labrador (Thursday, August 6), Nova Scotia (Thursday, August 6) and Prince Edward Island (Friday, August 7) before wrapping round-robin play up on Saturday, August 8 against New Brunswick.