CANMORE – The Bow Valley Blues are proving they belong near the top, but can't yet solve the hottest team in the Calgary North Baseball League.
Blues pitcher Jackson Ostman struck out eight as the U21 Blues fell 2-1 against Calgary North 2 (CN2) last Saturday (May 28) at Millennium Park in Canmore. It was the Blues' second one-run loss against the undefeated team this season.
“I think for the most part I had a pretty consistent game, but to be honest, I give all the credit to the guys standing behind me in the field,” said Ostman. “If it weren’t for them, I would have been out of the game a long time ago because I would have been over my pitches [count], so I do appreciate everything they did for me. It was a good game, we just couldn’t edge it out.”
The scoring chances were there, but the Blues bats couldn't find life in critical moments. The team left six runners stranded in scoring positions in the loss.
“Anytime anyone gets a bat on the ball or even when someone gets on base it’s a huge momentum boost, and for the first half of the game we were struggling,” said Ostman.
Ostman, who started in both games against CN2, found himself in another battle of the arms on Saturday.
Through three innings, the game was scoreless with the Blues pitcher catching four Calgary batters swinging or looking.
It wasn’t until the top of the fourth when CN2 cracked the Ostman code and drove in two runs to take the lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Blues cut the lead in half after Maguire Golnik tagged third base and ran home on Ostman's sacrifice fly.
After a scoreless sixth, the Blues' rally caps were on for the seventh and final inning of play.
Down one, Golnik started things off with a single and then stole second base.
After a pitching change was made by CN2, second batter Teagan Young singled to get runners on the corners.
Close to handing CN2 its first Big League L, third to bat and with no outs was Ostman and he looked to add more RBIs to the stat sheet. He connected and grounded the ball in-field as Golnik charged in from third, but the runner was tagged out at home to keep the game locked at 2-1.
Up next was Matt Arsenault, who had two singles and two stolen bases on Saturday. However, the Blues batter wasn't meant to be the hero that day as he popped out for the second last out of the game.
With runners at first and second, Blues batter Stephen Jones stepped up to the plate to keep the game alive or win it all.
Behind the Calgary pitcher, Young took off from second base during the at bat, but got caught stealing at the bag that ended the game.
“For that last play there, we were down by one, we had to play aggressive,” said Ostman. “There was a couple plays we got called out on and that’s just the way it goes, but you go to fight for those chances when you get them."
Halfway through the season, the Blues are second i the league at 3-2.
The Blues' final three home games of the regular season are at Millennium Park on June 9 at 6:30 p.m., and June 11-12, both at 3 p.m.
On June 12, the Blues have at least one more shot against the league's top team in their regular season finale.
