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Sliders slide home with silver medals at mosquito provincials

The Stettler Sliders capped an outstanding season with a silver-medal finish in the provincial mosquito community Tier 1 baseball
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The Stettler Sliders earned silver medals at the provincial mosquito community Tier 1 baseball championship on the weekend in Barrhead. The coaches (from left) are Jeff Lee

The Stettler Sliders capped an outstanding season with a silver-medal finish in the provincial mosquito community Tier 1 baseball championship Sunday at Barrhead.

In the gold-medal game, Stettler lost 5-3 to Goodfish Lake, which scored two runs in the sixth and final inning to complete the comeback.

The final immediately followed Stettler’s 10-0 semifinal victory over the host Barrhead Yankees, “leaving the boys little time to rest and refocus,” said Sliders coach Jeff Lee.

Stettler still managed to gain an early lead before Goodfish Lake rallied to pull even in the fifth inning.

It was the first — and only — loss of the tournament for Stettler, which posted a 3-1 record on the weekend.

The select Sliders entered the provincials undefeated in league play and seeded first in their three-team pool.

In its opening game Friday, Stettler edged Edmonton’s Northeast Zone 5-4.

The Sliders went on to defeat South Jasper Place 9-5 on Saturday to finish first in their pool. That set up the semifinal matchup against Barrhead, which finished second — behind Goodfish Lake — in the other division.

The march to the provincial final marked the end of memorable summer of baseball for the Sliders.

“Our young mosquito team exceeded our expectations in all aspects of play this year,” said coach Lee. “They learned so much about the game in such a short time to compete against much older and larger teams, and to be awarded provincial silver medals.

“They should all be very proud of their efforts, sportsmanship and conduct on and off the field. They were excellent ambassadors for our community.”