Zoë Lorenz-Boser from Bentley and Griffen Ryden from Rimbey were teammates on the Lacombe Peewee AA Dodgers baseball team this summer. The Dodgers had an excellent season advancing to the Tier 1 Provincials in Grande Prairie in early August as the fifth seed in a field of eight teams.
In addition to their team's success throughout the season, Lorenz-Boser and Ryden had strong individual performances as pitchers, infielders and hitters. Ryden led the team with a .600 batting average and a .714 on-base percentage. He was also second on the team with 24 base hits, including the only Dodgers home run of the season. Lorenz-Boser led the team in base hits with a total of 25 and posted a .481 batting average and .565 on-base percentage.
Although the Lacombe Dodgers failed to bring home a medal from the provincials, the 2014 baseball season did not end there for Lorenz-Boser and Ryden. Zoë was selected to play for Team Alberta in the Western Canadian Peewee Girls Baseball Championship in Spruce Grove while Griffen was picked up by the provincial champion Grande Prairie Reds to play in the Western Canadian Peewee AA Baseball Championship in Swift Current. Both championship tournaments were held Aug. 15 to 17.
Team Alberta captured gold medals at the Western Canadian Peewee Girls Baseball Championship with an undefeated record in four games over their opponents from British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Lorenz-Boser was the starting and winning pitcher in the opening game against Manitoba, tossing three shutout innings while allowing only one base hit and no walks. In the round robin game against British Columbia, she had three RBI's including knocking in the go-ahead runs in a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the last inning. Team Alberta then defeated the defending champs from B.C. in the championship final by a score of 10-0. Lorenz-Boser played shortstop, was three for four at the plate including a sixth inning walk-off double that brought home the 10th run to end the game by way of the mercy rule.
The Grande Prairie Reds were unbeatable in the Alberta provincials but were unable to duplicate their performance at the Western Canadian Peewee AA Championships. The Reds came away winless in three games but it certainly wasn't the fault of Griffen Ryden. In the opening game, he came in as a substitute and made his presence felt by making an excellent catch in centre field at the fence. He then followed up by hitting a home run in his first at bat, once again demonstrating that he is one of the top hitters in his age class.
Zoë will be attending Bentley School in Grade 8 this fall while Griffen will be a Grade 8 student at Rimbey Junior-Senior High School.
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