MOOSE JAW — In a season filled with record-setters, the Moose Jaw Miller Express added two more on Sunday night.
Pitcher Westin Walls struck out eight batters in Moose Jaw’s 22-11 win over the Weyburn Beavers to set a new Western Canadian Baseball League single-season strikeout record of 92. The mark was formerly held by Josh Tucker of the Sylvan Lake Gulls and set in 2022.
Then, Thomas Soto re-upped his own single-season runs record by crossing the plate three times, setting a new mark of 71 that broke his own record set last year.
Other results Sunday saw the Saskatoon Berries and Regina Red Sox split a doubleheader, with the Red Sox taking a 7-5 win in the opener and Berries replying with an 8-7 win in the nightcap. One other game saw the Okotoks Dawgs take a 10-3 win over the Swift Current 57’s.
The WCBL playoff picture is coming into focus as the final days of the regular season approach this week, with the Swift Current 57’s falling to 18-35 and becoming the first team to be eliminated from the East Division playoff picture. They sit four games out of fourth place with three games remaining.
The Regina Red Sox have the inside track on third place with a 23-29 mark that puts them 1 ½ games up on the 22-31 Medicine Hat Mavericks with four games remaining. Medicine Hat has three games left on their schedule and are two games up on 19-32 Weyburn for the fourth and final playoff spot, though the Beavers still have five games to play.
First place in the Division will also go down to the wire, with Moose Jaw having the inside track with a 39-13 record and a 2 ½ game lead over the 27-16 Saskatoon Berries. Moose Jaw has four games remaining, Saskatoon three.
The regular season wraps up over the next three days, with the final night of competition on Wednesday and the playoffs starting on Friday.
Moose Jaw 22 Weyburn 11
The Express held a 13-10 lead after only four innings before things settled down a bit, but Moose Jaw would add six runs in the eighth to invoke the mercy rule
Soto finished 5-for-6 with a home run, three runs and six RBIs to lead the Express, Jimmy Kurtz was 6-for-6 with five runs and two RBI. Garryn Plummer was 2-for-4 with a double, home run and two RBI, Eduardo Saenz and Chris Franks each had three RBI, Brayden Bunnell scored three runs.
As the score would indicate, neither pitching staff had much success early, with Walls going 2 ⅔ and giving up six runs on eight hits but getting the eight strikeouts he needed for the record. Antonio Sansone picked up the win after giving up only two hits in two innings of relief.
Ryan Dauphinee went 3-for-5 and finished a triple away from the cycle with two runs and three RBI for Weyburn. Brayden Mayencourt was 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs and two RBI, Will Sevier hit a grand slam in the fourth inning.
Quinton Foster was saddled with the loss after giving up five runs over three innings of relief.
Regina 7, Saskatoon 5
Regina scored two in the second, three in the third and another two in the fifth for a 7-1 lead before Saskatoon scored four in the seventh but saw their comeback attempt fall short.
Kaegan Baker had a stellar outing on the mound for Regina, claiming the win after putting together a quality start that saw him give up a single run on five hits over six innings, striking out four.
Carson Cox went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and and RBI to lead their offence, Brady Bye was 3-for-3 with two runs, Dan Castellanos was 2-for-4 with two runs.
Brock Laird went 2-for-4 with two runs for Saskatoon, Gael Salinas was 2-for-3 with a run and RBI.
Diego Quinonez took the loss after allowing seven runs on nine hits over five innings.
Saskatoon 8, Regina 7
A five run second inning helped stake Saskatoon to an 8-2 lead, and they’d hold off a final inning comeback by Regina for the one-run win.
Salinas went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI to lead the Berries, Brock Laird scored three runs, Gavin Panks went 2-for-2 with a run and RBI.
Adam Korte was the winning pitcher, allowing three runs on seven hits in a quality start. Brook Jones ended up with the save.
Regina’s Ian Montz finished a triple away from the cycle with a 4-for-4 outing that included six RBIs. Matteo Pierre was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.
Michael Bizier was the losing pitcher after allowing six unearned runs on four hits in the first 1 ⅓ innings, with Regina committing a total of five errors in the game.
Okotoks 10, Swift Current 3
The Dawgs scored four runs in the fourth to build a 9-0 lead and never looked back.
Ayden Crouse went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI for Okotoks, Ricky Sanchez, Nash Crowell and Emmet Stacher each crossed the plate twice. Jack Lussier knocked in two runs.
Jack Bello went five innings and allowed two runs on four hits to take the win for Okotoks.
Jake Steffes had a pair of hits for Swift Current, Ryder Adair, Chance Crawford and Jude Pacheco scored their runs.
Sam Honke took the loss after five up five runs in the first 2 ⅓ innings.
Up Next
As one might expect in the final week of the season, it’ll be a busy one for Saskatchewan teams on Monday, as Moose Jaw is at Weyburn for a doubleheader (4:05 p.m. and 7:05 p.m.), Regina is at Saskatoon (4 p.m.) and Swift Current is at Brooks (7:05 p.m.).
