OKOTOKS — Don’t look now, but the Moose Jaw Miller Express could all of a sudden be the best team in the Western Canadian Baseball League.
The Express took the field at Seaman Stadium in Okotoks in a first-place-overall showdown with the Dawgs on Saturday night and put their vaunted offence to work, pounding out 24 hits and going on to a 17-10 victory.
As a result, Moose Jaw improves to 12-5 on the season and have moved into a tie with the Lethbridge Bulls for first place overall in the 12-team league. The loss cost Okotoks a share of first place in the West as they drop to 14-6 and are percentage points out of the top spot.
Other Saskatchewan action on Saturday saw the Swift Current 57’s take a 10-2 win over the Medicine Hat Mavericks and the Regina Red Sox roll to an 11-2 win over the Weyburn Beavers.
Moose Jaw 17, Okotoks 10
With such gaudy offensive numbers, one could expect to see some wild digits in the box score for Moose Jaw, and that was exactly the case.
Brayden Bunnell put together a 5-for-5 outing that included four runs batted in, while Will Edwards was 3-for-6 with four runs scored, Eduardo Saenz 4-for-6 with three runs scored, Garryn Plummer 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBI and Pacey Phillips 3-for-6 with two runs and two RBI.
Michael Rago went 3-for-5 and had a double — incredibly, one of only two extra-base hits for Moose Jaw on the night, with Plummer getting the other.
The Express trailed 6-5 heading into the top of the sixth, but they’d score five runs there and tack on another five runs the next inning to put the game away.
It certainly didn’t hurt Moose Jaw’s cause that Okotoks struggled incredibly on defence, committing six errors on the night.
All that made Express starting pitcher Jacob Glazener the improbable winner on the night after giving up nine runs on 12 hits over five innings of work.
Jacob Wrubleski went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and two RBI while Nash Crowell had a solo home run for his lone hit on the night. Aidan Dougherty went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs.
The Dawgs went through seven pitchers, with Grady Keljo taking the loss after allowing four runs on four hits in the fifth.
Swift Current 10, Medicine Hat 2
The 57’s hit double digits for the second time in as many outings, scoring four in the fourth and another four in the seventh to cement their victory.
Hudson Unger hit a grand slam in the fourth inning for his only hit on the night, while Jake Hiromoto went 2-for-3 with a home run, double and three RBI. Keagan Knowler also hit a round tripper and went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Knowler got the start for Swift Current and gave up only two hits before giving way to Gavin Lippa, who was lights out the rest of the way, allowing a single earned run on six hits over seven innings to earn the win.
Blake Dale was 2-for-5 with a run for Medicine Hat, Carson Chan also had two hits and picked up the Mavericks other run.
Jackson Miller started for Medicine Hat and took the loss after allowing two runs on two hits over three innings.
Swift Current improves to 5-11 with the second-straight win and remain sixth in the East, Medicine Hat falls to 8-12 and are in fifth.
Regina 11, Weyburn 2
The Red Sox got off to a fast start with two runs in the first and three in the second and then tacked on three more in the third to make things all but academic.
Will Togher went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI for Regina, while Daniel Castellanos was 2-for-4 with three RBI. Justin Simard went 2-for-6 with a triple, two runs and two RBI, Mason Taforya 3-for-5 with two runs and Lance Anderson 2-for-5 with a pair of triples and a run.
Samuel Jackson started for Regina and allowed two runs on five hits while striking out seven, Zander Oudie-Senger finished things off, giving up two hits in the final four innings and also striking out seven.
Will Sevier hit a solo home run for Weyburn, Ryan Dauphinee scored their other run.
Josh Pritchard was the losing pitcher after allowing eight runs, seven earned, on 10 hits over 3 ⅔ innings.
Regina improves to 7-10 and are in fourth place, five games out of first in the East, Weyburn drops to 7-9 and are in third, 4 ½ games behind Moose Jaw.
Up Next
It’s a busy day for Saskatchewan teams on Sunday, with Weyburn at Regina for a doubleheader (1:05 p.m. and 3:05 p.m.), Moose Jaw at Okotoks (2:05 p.m.) and Swift Current at Saskatoon (1 p.m.)
