The Lloydminster Prairie Pirates have been playing like gangbusters since the opening of the 18U AA baseball season.
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The Pirates are sporting an 11-4 record overall, including their 9-3 slate in the Baseball Alberta Provincial League. They’re among the upper-echelon teams in Division 2, so it’s still possible Lloyd might be promoted to Division 1 for the July portion of the provincial schedule.
While awaiting the next phase of Alberta league action, the Pirates hosted an exhibition tournament last weekend and won two of their three games.
It’s been that kind of a year for the Pirates, who set the tone early with a season-opening seven-game winning streak this spring.
“Oh yeah, we’ve come back way stronger this year,” said the power-hitting Matthew Kenyon, a six-foot-four outfielder and one of a half-dozen returning players. “It’s mostly new guys and a completely different group. A fresh start. A lot more locked in.”
Graduating from Holy Rosary High School this week, and bound for Lakeland College in the fall, Kenyon likened the Pirates to his senior boys’ high school volleyball club.
“Both teams are really fun to be on,” he said. “No one is bad on the team. Everything is fun, but serious at the same time. It’s a good mix.”
The Pirates’ newcomers include head coach Masen Anderson and young guns like Luke Langley, an athletic workhorse pitcher, and Lincoln Graham, a solid second baseman.
“They’re here to play ball and they’re locked in as soon as it’s game time,” Anderson said. “Luke is one of our better pitchers. I mean, he routinely goes six or seven innings a game. Lincoln is probably one of, if not the most fundamentally sound players on the field. Always knows where he’s going, where the ball is going and what play needs to be made.”
All the returnees are contributing, especially speedy overager Callum Molsberry and catcher Kobe Heck, a team leader, Anderson said.
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