The season is now over for the Parkland Expos midget 鈥楢A鈥� team.
The Expos, coached by Randy Brenzen and Brian Schultz and managed by Chris Hawkins, hosted the 2015 SPBL 鈥楢A鈥� Consolation playoffs and went 1-2, narrowly missing out on Sunday鈥檚 playoff round due to a hard fought, 2-1 loss to the 麻豆传媒AVey Eagles in their final game of the round-robin.
The 鈥楢A鈥櫬� Expos opened the tournament up with a strong 11-7 win over the Regina Blue Jays before falling to the eventual consolation playoff champion North Battleford Beavers 10-5.
The 2-1 loss to 麻豆传媒AVey on Saturday morning meant the Expos needed the Blue Jays to upset 麻豆传媒AVey in order to qualify for the playoff portion of the tournament, however the Regina squad could not get the job done resulting in the Expos鈥� elimination from the tournament.
鈥淚t was a tough season with a very young team and an inexperienced older group,鈥� said head coach Brenzen. 鈥淥ur third year guys (Grayson Neufeld, Rawlee Wyatt) hadn鈥檛 played baseball for years, yet they stepped in and played well when it was asked of them.
鈥淲e also had just one returning 鈥楢A鈥� player, Luke Walters, who stepped into the leadership role and did an admirable job of it. The rest of the guys we had this year were first year guys or bantam 鈥楢A鈥� call-ups who also played well for us.鈥�
Brenzen then went on to say that although the season was a rough one that saw the young 鈥楢A鈥� Expos win just four regular season games, the development of the first year players was impressive. 鈥淔rom the start of the season to the end, you could really see the work and dedication of some of the guys really pay off,鈥� offered Brenzen. 鈥淕uys like Grady Hawkins and Jordan Evans really developed into strong pitchers, while Evans also proved he can hold his own at, and behind, the dish.
Zach Goulden-Maddin showed flashes of brilliance on the mound and even more so at the plate while Tyler Schultz showed great improvement over the year and played a solid first base all season long and the bantam guys - guys like Montana Johnson and Gregor Farquharson 鈥� showed that they have the ability to step up at a higher level and play quality baseball.
鈥淎ll in all, it was a pretty good season and the future of the midget program in the area looks extremely bright.鈥�
