The Parkland Expos鈥� 鈥楢AA鈥� midget baseball team travelled to Winnipeg to take part in the 12-team 2015 Winnipeg Classic Midget AAA Invitational Tournament from May 29-31, joining six teams from Manitoba, three from Regina and one each from Ontario and Alberta in the quest for tournament supremacy.
The 鈥楢AA鈥� Expos took part in five games over the three day tournament, opening the weekend up with a 10-1 victory over the Regina Angels on Friday afternoon.
Saturday evening saw the Expos come up just short in their second game of the tournament, falling to the Winnipeg 麻豆传媒AV Chiefs 4-3 despite a strong performance by starting pitcher Kholton Shewchuk. 鈥淪hewchuk pitched well for us in that second game and went 105 pitches and pitched an awesome game,鈥� said Parkland Expos鈥� co-coach Aaron Elmy. 鈥淭he game was just a heartbreaker for us.
鈥淲e could have been 2-0 but instead we lost late and were 1-1 heading into Saturday.鈥�
The third game of the tournament Saturday afternoon pitted the Expos against Winnipeg鈥檚 Bonivital Black Sox with the Expos downing the Black Sox for their second win of the tournament.
A quick turnaround saw a tired and depleted Expos club face off against the Carillon Sultans, falling to the Sultans before being lambasted by the Thunder Bay Wolves 18-1 in their final game of the tournament. 鈥淲e had a pretty short bench coming into the tournament and we just ran out of pitchers towards the end there,鈥� offered Elmy, adding that having to make pitching substitutions from players in the field also gives a pitcher a disadvantage. 鈥淲hen you don鈥檛 carry a bench it really limits your options, especially for pitching. You don鈥檛 have a bullpen so instead of putting someone in from there all warmed up you鈥檙e putting someone in from the field that鈥檚 cold.
鈥淚t puts our pitchers in tough positions where they鈥檙e coming into the game not as sharp as they would be had they been able to warm up properly.鈥�
However the short bench also enabled Elmy and fellow 鈥楢AA鈥� coaches Stefan Bymak and Tony Black an opportunity to see two future 鈥楢AA鈥� players 鈥� first year midget Zach Goulden-Maddin and first year bantam Gregor Farquharson 鈥� who both impressed the 鈥楢AA鈥� brass. 鈥淭hey both filled in very well. In fact Gregor exceeded my expectations. You don鈥檛 want to put a kid that age in a position where it鈥檚 going to hurt him but we were forced to put him in on the mound because we simply ran out of pitching but he pitched two scoreless innings which was awesome for him and for us,鈥� mentioned Elmy, continuing, 鈥渁nd Zach is a kid that I鈥檓 getting to know more and more as he plays for us. I really like him as a player. He鈥檚 got some spunk and he鈥檚 a tough out and he loves the game and always give a good effort. I鈥檓 really impressed by both of those guys.鈥�
The weekend tournament also allowed the Expos to forget about their recent struggles in league play, where they are currently mired in a six game losing streak and sit second last in the 10-team SPBL 鈥楢AA鈥� Division. 鈥淕etting back in the win column is definitely going to help our guys get their confidence back,鈥� said Elmy. 鈥淚n our wins we played two clean games and played strong defensively and converted on our opportunities.
鈥淲e showed ourselves that we have a strong offensive team and that when we play good defence we can beat anybody.鈥�
Next action
The next action for the Parkland Expos midget 鈥楢AA鈥� baseball team will be this coming weekend when they travel to Lloydminster and Muenster for a pair of doubleheaders. The Expos will be in Lloydminster on Saturday before travelling to Muenster on Sunday.
