In what turned out to be a gorgeous night for baseball, the Alexander Men's Wear Yorkton Junior Cardinals plastered the Melville Bison 14-3 at Pirie Field in Melville Sunday evening in what was their first night under the stars in South East Senior Baseball League action.
"It's a nice night for baseball anyways," chimed starting pitcher Ross Stilborn.
"It's a pretty good night for baseball," insisted Mark Jacobs, player/coach for the Junior Cardinals.
On the strength of two early runs and then seven more in the sixth inning, the Cardinals' bats were alive and well for the second time on the same day.
Earlier on Sunday, Yorkton met up with Swan River and dished out a 13-0 shutout victory on home field. Jacobs started, while Luke Boechler pitched for the first time in a long time, and Scott Sharp finished the job.
At Melville, the Cards continued to fly.
"We came out ready to play," insisted Jacobs, who plays infield and also plays assistant coach for the squad.
Jacobs reminded that Melville played "us tough in Yorkton earlier in the season".
It was a good outing for Ross (Stilborn)," says Jacobs, of the 6'3" RHP who joined the Cardinals two seasons ago by way of Balcarres.
Stilborn pitched a shutout and was relieved by first-year Junior Andrew Minchuk who threw fireballs for two innings, one strike after another, observed Jacobs.
"It's something special," he said of the rookie LHP who hails from MacNutt. "It helps us a lot."
Both pitchers got plenty of run support, despite a comeback attempt made by the Bison late in the inning. It would have kept going after an umpire error in the home half of the seventh inning ended the game.
"No, I don't think we expected that," attests Jacobs of the 14-3 final.
After coming off a game on home diamond earlier in the day, Yorkton got their offence started when Jacobs, Boechler and Sharp combined for a shutout win.
It was also an opportunity on the pitchers mound for Boechler, who admitted he hadn't seen much time there in years, didn't seem to have any trouble finding the strike zone.
"He pitched a couple balls but definitely most of them were strikes," suggests Jacobs.
"He did well. His confidence is pretty high." Boechler missed most of last season while recovering from a current battle with leukemia.
He said he got time in on the mound in the sixth inning and felt "pretty good".
He added that his teammates likely "got a kick" out of watching him throw his knuckleball.
Boechler was one of three Cardinals who enjoyed a day of baseball where the weather couldn't have been any better.
"This is good ball weather for sure (and) obviously our bats were working."
Yorkton is in for three tough games this week, all in the SESBL.
Last night, they were scheduled to play the Yorkton Yankees. Tonight, they return to Pirie Field in Melville in a game the Bison will likely be looking for some revenge.
Tomorrow night, they are scheduled for a rematch from Tuesday's game with the Yankees. Opening pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. Anyone looking to make a trip to Melville for this evening's game, action begins at 7:30 p.m.
AAA Provincials
Yorkton will be the host of this year's AAA Junior Provincials baseball tournament.
Eight teams are expected to participate, including two from Saskatoon. The tournament will likely run Friday through Sunday.
