REGINA — The Weyburn Beavers have proven to be a tough out in the early weeks of the Western Canadian Baseball League season, and Friday night offered another example.
The Beavers scored single runs in the seventh and ninth innings against the Regina Red Sox and would go on to a 2-0 victory over the defending champions at Currie Field in Regina.
Weyburn improves to 5-4 on the season and are now in third place in the East Division, 1 ½ games back of the first-place Saskatoon Berries. Regina drops to 5-6 and are in fourth place.
Other action for Saskatchewan teams on Friday saw the Moose Jaw Miller Express defeat Saskatoon 7-5 and the Okotoks Dawgs down the Swift Current 57’s 10-6.
Weyburn 2, Regina 0
Neither team’s offence could get much going against the opposing starting pitcher, and in the end, the Beavers’ Logan Lynch would come out on the positive side of the pitching duel.
Lynch turned in a quality start, scattering six hits over 7 ⅔ innings of work, striking out six and giving up a single walk. Logan Kinter saw to it there would be no late-game comeback for Regina, tossing the final 1 ⅓ and striking out a pair while not allowing a baserunner.
Red Sox starter Daniel Crabtree was nearly as effective, allowing a single run in the seventh to close out his evening. He’d give up only three hits in that span, striking out five. Jake Fowler finished things off and allowed the run in the ninth.
Owen Mayencourt knocked home Brayden Mayencourt with the game-winning run in the top of the seventh, Hugh Montgomery picked up the insurance run on a single by Austin Boylan in the final inning.
Justin Simard, Ty Martinez and Mason Tafoya each had two hits for the Red Sox.
Moose Jaw 7, Saskatoon 5
The Miller Express got the better of a bullpen battle in the final three innings, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh and adding an insurance marker in the eighth to secure the win.
Moose Jaw had earlier scored three in the third, only for Saskatoon to come back with four the next inning. The Express tied things up in the fifth and the Berries regained the lead with one in the seventh before Moose Jaw staged their late-game rally.
Thomas Soto had a solid day on offence for the Express, going 2-for-4 and scoring three runs. Garryn Plummer had a pair of runs batted in, with all but two of Moose Jaw’s starters having at least one hit on the night.
Saskatoon’s Nash Nichols hit a home run in the seventh for his lone hit, Gavin Panks was 3-for-4 with a run scored.
Westin Walls started on the mound for Moose Jaw and allowed five runs on eight hits in 6 ⅔ innings, striking out eight and walking four. Jacob Quiles picked up the win after allowing a single hit and striking out four in 1 ⅓ innings of work, Nathan Pisio tossed a perfect ninth to earn the save.
Jackson Fox went four innings for Saskatoon, giving up four runs on six hits. Clay Mixon took the loss after allowing two runs on a pair of hits over the final 1 ⅔ innings.
Moose Jaw improves to 6-4 with their third-straight win and are second in the East, one game back of the Berries. Saskatoon falls to 8-4 with back-to-back losses for the first time this season.
Okotoks 10, Swift Current 6
Swift Current kept things close against the West Division leaders until the later innings, with the Dawgs snapping a 4-4 tie with a pair of runs in the sixth before pulling away with three more in the seventh.
The Dawgs had a total of seven extra base hits on the night, with Jeremy Kuiper going 3-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI. Connor Crowson put together a 2-for-3 outing that included two doubles, three runs and a pair of RBI, Jayden Lusk hit a double for his lone hit and also knocked in two.
Swift Current’s Luke Steffes went 2-for-5 and had a solo home run as his lone hit, Keagan Knowler had a two-run round-tripper for his lone hit in five trips to the plate. Jake Hiromoto was 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, Cohen Jorgenson also had a pair of hits.
Jordan Kievman started for the Dawgs and allowed a single hit over three innings, Dalton Hoffart emerged with the win after getting the final two outs in the sixth.
Zachary Silva with 5 ⅓ innings for Swift Current, giving up six runs on five hits, striking out four and walking three. Tanner Delarosa allowed two runs in the sixth and was saddled with the loss.
Okotoks improves to 9-3 and are tied with Lethbridge for first in the West, Swift Current falls to 2-8 with their fifth-straight loss and are sixth in the East.
Action Saturday for the Saskatchewan teams will see Moose Jaw and Weyburn play a doubleheader in Moose Jaw, with the first of the two seven-inning games starting at 6:05 p.m. Other action sees Medicine Hat at Swift Current (6:57 p.m.) and Regina at Saskatoon (6 p.m.)
