Washington State American Legion Baseball (WSALB) is still going strong in Trail with the West Kootenay ‘A’ Orioles taking an undefeated record into Butler Park on Saturday when they host the Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen.
Playing in the Area 3 Central Division, the single-A Orioles have gone 8-0 to open the WSALB season. But with all of their games on the road to date, the team is happy to finally get a home game at Butler Park and look to extend their perfect record against the Lumbermen.
“I’m looking forward to it,” said Orioles coach Kevin Ihas. “We’ve had a great start to our season so the kids are looking strong and playing well.”
The Orioles are coming off a four-game sweep of Spokane and Colville last weekend, and cruise into the weekend on a roll.
Comprised of players from Rossland, Trail, Fruitvale, and Castlegar, the West Kootenay team boasts an impressive array of veterans with a deep rotation anchored by Lucas Miracle, Allison Schroder, and Austin Cox, combined with great defence and an imposing offence.
“We have strong pitching through the line-up, and very strong hitting all the way through,” said Ihas. “We’re really lucky. We have 12 strong baseball players, all utility players that can play pretty much anywhere if needed. We’re really lucky this season.”
The ‘A’ Orioles may have benefitted by the absence of a ‘AA’ team calling up older players, but for Ihas, the majority of his team has been playing together since little league, and is the reason for the success this season.
“All the kids that have been return players and have stuck with this program have also grown another year. So I have quite a few returning players that have been on this team going on their third year.”
The Orioles have yet to face the Lumbermen, so the double-header on Saturday will be a new challenge for the West Kootenay team.
“I’m looking forward to the match up this weekend, and being on home field is definitely going to be great for the team,” added Ihas. “We want the public to know that we still have baseball in Trail, we have a successful team this year and hopefully we can get some support from the Trail area and families.”
The ‘A’ Orioles take the field at Butler Park against CDA in a double-header on Saturday at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.