Cobras take second in baseball finals

By Rob Vogt
A grand slam home run was the difference as the Willow Creek Composite High School baseball team just came up two runs short of a gold medal.
The Cobras hosted the Southern Alberta High School Baseball League Tier-3 finals at Millennium Ball Diamonds on May 29 and 30, advancing all the way to the championship final where they lost to the Crowsnest Consolidated High School Panthers by a score of 8-6.
The game had its fair share of drama.
The Cobras got on the board first as Keegan Scott drove in the first run of the game giving the Cobras a 1-0 lead.
However, the Panthers responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-1 lead after one inning.
There was no scoring until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Panthers loaded the bases.
Then Bryden Markowski stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam home run, giving Crowsnest a 6-1 lead.
The Cobras responded in their next at bat as Preston McLeod drove in two runs as Claresholm cut the deficit to 6-3.
They got even closer in the top of the sixth inning as Carson Ring doubled in Liam Schuler and Syler Sabey to make the score 6-5.
The Panthers fought back in their half of the sixth inning, tacking on two runs to lead 8-5, with an inning to play.
McLeod led off the seventh inning, sending the crowd into a frenzy with an inside-the-park home run to cut Crowsnest’s lead to 8-6.
The Cobras could get no closer, and the Panthers won by that 8-6 score.
The result gave Claresholm second place in Tier-3.
They opened the tournament Friday night with a win over the Crescent Heights Vikings of Medicine Hat, and advanced to the final with a win over Erle Rivers of Milk River on Saturday morning.