Just a month away from starting junior high school, Brecken Pedde is in the stretch drive of a memorable summer on the baseball diamond with the Lloydminster 13U AA Prairie Pirates.
Read more: Lloyd sweeps Parkland at home to advance to provincials
“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Pedde, 12. “I get to hang out with more of my friends that I’ve known from past baseball experiences and stuff. I get to meet new people I play baseball with. It’s been an awesome year.”
The summer season reaches its climax this weekend (Aug. 1-3) when Pedde and his Pirates buddies host the Baseball Alberta 13U AA Tier 2 provincials at the Driven Energy Legion ballpark in Lloyd.
“It’s a pretty big thing that we get to play on our home diamond — a diamond that we know the best,” said Pedde, usually a pitcher or first baseman. “And we get to play for Lloydminster. It’s pretty exciting.”
Playing at home is switch-hitting of sorts for the Pirates, who are most used to life on the road during the provincial league regular season. Their lone weekend homestand came just a few weeks ago.
“We haven’t had to travel too, too far this year, but it’s nice to play at home so we don’t have to get up for those early games,” said Pedde, who’s going into Grade 7 at Bishop Lloyd Middle School.
“On the field, it’s just awesome to be a part of the game and have lots of fun with the boys — play the game that we love. It’s been really good.”
Like most of his teammates, Pedde is eligible to return to 13U next summer. Just two Pirates, Khessler Foster and Sam Purser, graduate to 15U after this season.
“I hope we do well in the provincials, because we’ve got a good group of guys here,” Khessler, 13, said during a practice last Thursday night (July 24).
“Hopefully, we win some games, have some good emotions and come out with the victory maybe.”
Foster, planning to camp nearby, is looking forward to making the most of playing at the Pirates’ home park.
“My family is going to camp right over there, so I can sleep in more and get more ready for the games. It’ll definitely be a special weekend.”
Foster ranks baseball as “pretty important” to him.
“It’s a good sport to play in the summer and it’s pretty fun,” he said. “It helps when I play hockey in the winter, too, so I have one sport in both summer and winter. They’re both pretty good for me.”
Foster, a defenceman on the ice, plays first or third base and occasionally pitches in baseball. He’s going into Grade 8 at Holy Rosary High School.
Pedde, who also plays defence in hockey, can’t get enough baseball.
“I like to play hockey during the winter, but I’m kind of drifting away from that and going more toward playing baseball,” Pedde said. “I’m feeling good about that. Yeah, a big baseball guy.”
ENJOYABLE SUMMER
Regardless of wins and losses, it’s been a productive season for the Pirates, whose coach is senior Lloydminster Twins player-coach Trent Kusch.
“I learned a lot more about baseball,” Foster said. “Just how to hit better and throw harder and be more in position and ready for the ball.”
The Pirates also learned to enjoy going to the ballpark. That was the
principal message all season from Kusch and his coaching staff.
“Give it everything you’ve got, but enjoy yourselves,” Kusch told his players in a post-practice huddle. “Think about just playing in a backyard game. That’s all it is.”
Some of that spirit was evident as the Pirates’ practice closed with a playful scrimmage in the outfield. Kusch, a teacher by trade, was in the middle of it.
“Always at the ballpark, but I would say that’s what summer is for — be
outside and enjoy it,” said the Holy Rosary High School teacher.
“You see us playing this little game tonight at the end of practice. The sport of baseball is not meant to be another job or activity. You show up to the diamond with your boys, excited to see each other, happy to see each other, high-fives, hugging each other, giving each other knucks, because you enjoy this sport and it’s such a unique, niche sport where it’s always dictated by the defence. You have to come here thinking, ‘I’m here to have a good time with my guys.’
“Whether it’s coaching or playing with the senior team, that’s all it is. With these guys, I’m trying to help them learn a game I love. Or being out with my senior team and being around people I’ve played with all my life, re-creating those moments I had as a youth now as an adult, as best I can.”
Along the way, the 13U AA Pirates posted a .500 record (8-8-1) in Baseball Alberta provincial league play this summer. They battled heady competition in recent weeks as they climbed into Tier 2 provincials.
“We’ve played stronger teams as we moved up in the rankings,” Kusch said. “At the beginning, we were Tier 3, then we worked up to Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams.
“Statistically speaking, offensively we’ve gotten better, but then we faced good pitching. We’ve got to remember that when we face good pitching, our goal is not going to be the same. We’re not going to be scoring 10 to 15 runs a game. We’re going to be, ‘Let’s work for our four runs in seven innings and play good defence and pitching.’ The boys have got around to (understanding) that.”
‘ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN’
At the same time, they’re realizing that baseball — even with all the fun — can also be a grind and a process that’s sometimes dependent on circumstance.
“The goal isn’t to win each weekend,” Kusch said of the Pirates’ big picture. “The goal is to, and I say, make Sunday at provincials. I never say win provincials, because when you get to Sunday, it’s one-game elimination.
“With a sport like baseball, anything can happen in one game, so you can’t set that (championship) as your goal. Just try to instill in them — and we struggle with this — when things don’t go your way, that is expected. You can’t let it beat you up and eat you up, because in baseball, one day you’ll go 4-for-4 with two doubles, two singles, a stolen base and a few RBIs. And the next day, you go 0-for-4 and you feel awful about yourself, but realistically now you’re a .500 hitter.
“It’s just a thought process of it’s a grind. We started back in April and we’re now going to August long weekend. It’s a lot of baseball, a lot of pitches, and it can grind on you, this sport. You’ve got to keep at it and work at it.”
Two more practices were scheduled for this week, before the Pirates go to bat Friday (Aug. 1) in the opening game of provincials. They face the Hanna Wildcats at 3 p.m.
Lloyd’s other preliminary game is set for 9 a.m. Saturday against Parkland Twins Blue.
Read more: 15U A Twins set table for Lloyd provincials
