Red Deer’s bantam AAA Servus Credit Union Braves saw their season come to an end in St. Albert this past weekend.

The Braves, who finished the regular season with a record of 31-17-1, were in the bedroom community just outside of Edmonton for the Baseball Alberta Bantam Performance provincial championships, and opened the tournament this past Friday, with a 6-5 loss to Sherwood Park Gold.

Mitch Vanson, who was one of three Braves recently selected to Team Alberta for the Western Canadian Baseball Championships in Kamloops, threw five innings of eight hit ball, giving up three runs, before giving way to reliever Nik Fischer, who was tagged with the loss, as he threw the final two innings, allowing three runs on one hit.

Joel Mazurkewich lead the Braves offensively, going three for three at the plate, with two singles, one double, one run batted in and two runs scored.

Levi Moon drove in a pair of runs, while Brendan Baker chipped in with a pair of singles.

Red Deer’s second game went a bit better, with reliever Brett Barrett throwing four and a third scoreless innings to pick up the win as the Braves dumped the host Cardinals 13-8.

Moon was three for four at the dish, all singles, while Barrett did what he could at the plate, scoring twice and driving in one run on two singles.

Vanson also had a strong outing, including a triple that knocked in two runs and he scored two runs himself.

Heading into game three with a 1-1 record, Red Deer again hit double digits with a 17-9 win over the Edmonton Cardinals.

Mazurkewich, Riley Guntrip, Justin Van Tetering and Tyler Galloway each took turns throwing the ball for Red Deer, with Galloway eventually picking up the win.

Baker and Galloway accounted for almost half of Red Deer’s scoring, as they both had two hits and each recorded four RBI’s.

In Red Deer’s fourth and final round robin game of the tournament, the Braves jumped out to a 3-1 lead over Okotoks, but could only watch as the Black Dawgs scored 10 runs in the fifth inning en route to a 17-6 win over the Braves.

Mazurkewich, who got the start for Red Deer, pitched four and a third innings, giving up nine runs and striking out three in taking the loss.

He also had a pair of singles and drove in two runs, as did Moon.

With two wins and two losses, Red Deer finished the tournament in third place and out of contention for a medal.

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