For the first time ever the Rimbey Roughnecks tier 3 Mosquitoes ball team hosted provincials in its hometown, and the team took gold.
Playing for gold against St. Albert, one of the other toughest teams in the provincials tournament, head coach Dean Cameron was calling a close game while still in the round-robin stage.
The Roughnecks beat out St. Alberta 13-5.
This was also the first time the Rimbey team had faced off against St. Albert this year.
Cameron says the Roughnecks exhibited strong pitching and defense during its games. “We played as a team, played fair and played with sportsmanship.”
Provincials got off to a shaky start this year, before Rimbey-Bluffton Minor Ball even got involved, as no host community was lined up to take on the responsibility.
“It just happened out tier didn’t have a host,” said Cameron.
The team, parents and volunteers stepped up to home plate and put the tournament together in a matter of days. “We only had three days to put this together,” said Cameron.
He says without the instrumental volunteers and volunteer coaching staff it would not have come together like it did.
Cameron says Rimbey-Bluffton Minor Ball is a popular organization in the area with many supports in place and more than 140 youth participating. The organization started more than 10 years ago with approximately 25 players and has continued to grow in numbers.
Cameron says with a provincials win under its belt Rimbey-Bluffton Minor Ball is gaining a good reputation of high-level players and coaches. He feel the next challenge the organization faces is a difficulty in hosting higher level events with no ball diamond space in town, the tournament was held on a slowpitch diamond. “A new diamond is in huge demand for the sport in Rimbey.”