REGINA — Curling fans could be excused if they looked at the linescore from the Western Canadian Baseball League game between the Regina Red Sox and Swift Current 57’s on Sunday and thought they saw a team win thanks to a ton of steals.
The Red Sox scored one in the second inning, two in the third, added single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh and then finished things off with three in the eighth for a 10-2 victory at Currie Field.
Regina improves to 4-5 and are tied with Medicine Hat for fourth place in the East Division, Swift Current falls to 2-5 and are in sixth.
Other action on Sunday saw the Saskatoon Berries take a 15-4 win over the Weyburn Beavers and the Moose Jaw Miller Express rally for a 17-13 victory over the Medicine Hat Mavericks.
Regina 10, Swift Current 2
With the Red Sox putting together their slow and steady success at the plate, starting pitcher Kaegan Baker made sure there would be no comeback on the night.
Baker emerged as the winning pitcher after giving Regina a solid quality start, allowing a single run on six hits over seven innings and racking up an impressive 14 strikeouts.
Chance Delaschuk led Regina’s offence with a 2-for-3 showing that included a double and a pair of runs batted in. Mason Tofoya and Brady Bye each had a pair of hits and two runs scored, Ty Martinez and Jake Fowler also crossed the plate twice each.
Lucas Geisler was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored to lead Swift Current.
Kyrell Adair got the start for the 57’s and allowed five runs on seven hits through five innings of work, Sammy Chow pitched the final three innings and gave up five runs on five hits.
Saskatoon 15, Weyburn 4
Weyburn saw their four-game win streak come to an end thanks to another impressive outing from the Berries offence.
Leading 5-1 heading into the fifth inning, Saskatoon would send 13 batters to the plate and score seven runs in the inning to pull away for good. Nash Nichols had a solo home run in the frame, Erik Aguirre knocked in three runs with a bases-loaded double.
Ethan Murdoch had another solid game for the Berries, going 4-for-5 with a double, three runs and four RBI, while Nate Houston was 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Aguirre ended up with five RBI on the afternoon; Gael Salinas, Aidan Marien and Nicols all crossed the plate twice.
Michael Sall picked up the win, allowing a single run on two hits over five innings, Dallen Rude and Tyler Bailey tossed three innings of scoreless relief in the mercy-rule victory.
Robert Gurney led the Berries with a 2-for-3 outing that included two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI, Owen Mayencourt went 2-for-3 and knocked in a pair.
Weyburn’s pitchers took a bit of damage from their defence, with only nine of the 15 runs earned thanks to four Beavers errors on the day. Keaton Husband was saddled with the loss after allowing five runs on six hits through second and third innings.
Saskatoon improves to 7-2 and remains in first place in the East, Weyburn drops to 4-4 and are tied with Moose Jaw for second place.
Moose Jaw 17, Medicine Hat 13
It stands to reason that if you put up a seven run inning, things are likely going to go your way when it comes to the final score.
In the wild and often wooly world of the WCBL, that just means an even bigger comeback for your opponent.
The Mavericks sent 11 batters to the plate and scored the aforementioned seven in the fourth inning to take a 9-5 lead, but Moose Jaw replied with four in the fifth, another two in the sixth and five more in the seventh to pull away for good.
All but two of Moose Jaw’s starting nine had at least two runs scored in the game, led by Garryn Plummer’s 3-for-3 outing that included three runs, two RBI and two hit-by-pitches. Pacey Phillips also crossed the plate three times, Jacob Mraz was 2-for-4 with a double and four RBI. Will Edwards was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI, Chris Franks 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBI.
Gio Lugo started for Moose Jaw and allowed five runs, three earned over 3 ⅓, Hayden Simon picked up the win thanks to Moose Jaw taking the lead in the fifth.
Josh Stark had a stellar outing at the plate for Medicine Hat, going 3-for-5 and belting a pair of home runs while knocking in four. Carter Roth was 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs and two RBI, Eric Calder 3-for-5 with four RBI.
Alex Fijal took the loss after allowing seven runs on nine hits while pitching in the fifth through seventh innings.
Only one Saskatchewan game is on tap for Monday as Swift Current is in Medicine Hat. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.
