The Lloydminster Twins recovered from a rocky start and went on to win Baseball Alberta’s 13U AA Tier 6 championship in St. Albert.
Read more: Twins win U13AA provincials
Lloyd won three straight games after suffering a one-sided loss in its opener in the six-team tournament on the July 26-27 weekend.
“The kids never cease to amaze you,” said Twins head coach Brian Brewer. “They showed up.
“Saturday, it didn’t start out that great. Sunday, they decided to hit the ball, and they didn’t stop until it was over, so it was great.”
The Twins defeated the Kneehill Kings 17-10 in the gold-medal game Sunday evening. That’s the same Kneehill team that beat Lloyd 13-3 a day earlier in Game 1.
In their semifinal victory Sunday afternoon, the Twins knocked off the host St. Albert Cardinals Blue 17-7.
Lloyd kept itself in contention Saturday afternoon with a 6-3 preliminary round win over Leduc’s Black Gold 47s Black.
“That 6-3 game kind of the ball rolling in the right direction,” Brewer said. “Owen Thor pitched the first five and a bit innings of that game. He probably started the year middle of the depth chart, as far as pitching goes, but really grew throughout the year, for sure.
“He kind of has the ‘I want the ball’ mentality. He’s got a lot of confidence and carries himself well. He was the shining light on that game and ended up taking home the MVP (honours) for the whole provincials.”
Thor is among eight first-year players with the Twins.
“It’s an exciting group of kids, that 2013-born age group,” said Brewer, whose son Declan, an outfielder and solid hitter, is in that mix.
Lloyd graduates three players in Ridley Briggs, Jettah Gardiner and Emmett Hiron, all moving up to 15U.
On championship Sunday, the Twins made a statement in the semifinals as they clubbed St. Albert, which was previously unbeaten in
the tournament.
“They’ve been beatin’ up on everybody for the last couple of months, for the most part, too,” Brewer said of the Cardinals. “We played them about a month and a half before (provincials). It was the first year those kids were introduced to curve balls. It was the first time all year that had really seen a breaking ball, and they struggled a lot in that game.
“Then, we ended up seeing the same pitcher in the semifinals. We had probably spent a good month and a half, with lots of batting practice, working on curve balls and getting them seeing it a little bit better, understanding it.
“They teed off on him. He didn’t last. We had him out of the game within the first inning and a half.”
That type of progression encapsulated the Twins’ entire season, en route to their golden finish.
“Your goal at the start of the year is to keep growing and getting better, from the end of April until July, and then it was just one of those weekends,” Brewer said. “Everything kind of clicked, especially on Saturday afternoon and Sunday.”
It’s been a splendid summer for Lloyd’s 13U AA baseball teams. Along with the Twins’ gold-medal victory, the Lloydminster Prairie Pirates earned silver in their Tier 2 provincials at home on the Aug. 1-3 weekend.
Brewer noted that from those two Border City teams, 18 of the 23 players were in their first 13U year this summer, highlighting the local depth at that age level.
Brewer’s coaching staff included main assistant coach Dave Gardiner and fellow assistants Joel Bolton, Bart Hiron and Adam Thor.
“We had a real good, committed group,” Brewer said. “We had at least three or four coaches at every practice, which was really nice to see.”
He also tipped his hat to Cathy Bolton, the Twins’ off-field team manager.
“She did all the behind-the-scenes organizing for the team for the whole year,” Brewer said. “All the logistics, travel, co-ordinating, booking meals, all that kind of stuff.
“She was awesome. A big job that often goes (unnoticed), where you typically don’t get a lot of recognition for it.”
The Twins’ roster is made up of Grady Bolton, Declan Brewer, Ridley Briggs, Slade Fulgham, Jettah Gardiner, Kolby Gardiner, Emmett Hiron, Gabriel Hollington, Oskar Larsson, Jett L’Heureux and Owen Thor.
Read more: 15U AA Twins plate provincial silver
