Jr Cards Hosting Westerns, Going to Nationals

The players and coaches of the Yorkton Alexanders Men's Wear Junior Cardinals were faced with tough decision over the weekend.

They lost 12-2 to the Saskatoon Stallions in the Provincial Final in Regina, and the Stallions then had the option of going to Nationals, or representing Saskatchewan at Western Canadians in Yorkton August 22-24. The Stallions elected to opt out of Nationals, which left the runners up, the Jr Cardinals, the choice. Be the host team in Yorkton, or go to Charlottetown, PEI for Nationals. They chose Nationals. Coach Brian Trollope explains.

BT: The Saskatoon Stallions went to Nationals last year, it's very expensive to go to something like this. They had their experience, and they also entered in a Senior Provincial Championship, which also conflicted with going Nationals, which are a week sooner than Westerns. They had an option, and they chose to go to Westerns here in Yorkton, versus going to Nationals in Prince Edward Island.

CS: So did that then force you to go to Nationals or was it still up to you?

BT: No, we were given a choice. To me, it's once in a lifetime to be able to go to Prince Edward Island and represent your province and your city is quite an honour.

CS: On the other hand was it tough not to go to Westerns when it's right here in Yorkton in front of your fans?

BT: Yeah, I'll tell you what... there was a lot of juggling in your mind of what to do, and it was kind of on the spot, you had to make the decision. And we will still be hosting it here in Yorkton, we just won't be playing in it. Right now there's the Saskatoon team, a team from Regina, Manitoba, and Alberta.

CS: You mentioned it's expensive, but you guys can handle it considering it's once in a lifetime?

BT: Well, we're going to try. We're going to do our fundraising and if we have to pay out of our pockets, we do that. We're going to have to leave on the 12th of August, so it's coming up, not too much time. Hopefully we can raise some money when we host Westerns too, which is a week after Nationals.

CS: And what are the dates for Nationals.

BT: August 14-17 I believe. It's all in Charlottetown, and a small community outside Charlottetown called Stratford.

CS: How much has playing in a senior league, in the South East Senior League helped you guys out, just seeing that older competition?

BT: Playing in the Senior League, we have some very good pitchers that we play against that have played WMBL or college. They have pitches you don't always see in Junior, their breaking balls and stuff like that. When you see it and learn how to hit it, it really helps your club.

CS: You continue your semi-final series with Melville tomorrow (TUE, 8:00 Pirie Field), you lead 2-games-to-one, has the series been as close as it looks on paper?

BT: It has been. Melville's a good team. We knew going in, they didn't have all their players for a lot of games this season, so we knew if they brought all their players, we're going to be in a battle.

**Brian will be our feature interview on today's GX94 Community Sports Calendar at 5:05.

**For a complete schedule for 2008 Junior Nationals in PEI... click here .