The Alexander Men's Wear Junior Cardinals got a good taste of some quality ball here Sunday afternoon when a team called the Red Sox rolled into town. They weren't from Boston but they had at least one guy who could really hit the baseball and hard.
And twice.
The Regina Red Sox came to Yorkton to challenge the Junior Cardinals and they did exactly that.
At least in the first of two games they definitely did.
"There's a lot of good players out there," observed Mark Jacobs, assistant coach and third baseman of the Junior Cardinals, referring to the quality of players the Cardinals face. "It's still good baseball."
He added that the two games were "great pitcher's duels.
Jacobs noted that yet again, the Junior Cardinals got a solid effort from Logan Calanchie.
With players like Brendan Sirup in the lineup for the visiting Red Sox, you need players like Calanchie who seems to be able to keep good hitters under control. Sirup delivered two home runs, the first of which nobody in red and grey could've caught unless they were 15 feet tall.
Calanchie did pitch five innings, had seven strikeouts and allowed five hits.
Sirup belted the first home run of the season at the Yorkton ball park off Calanchie as the teams settled for a 2-2 tie. It was 1-1 going into the sixth when both teams tallied in the final frame.
Calanchie and Jayden Shwaga put one up each, while Taylor Livingstone scored Regina's first run of the game.
Game two was a much different story as Yorkton came out rolling like it was Game 7 of the World Series in June. They had taken an 8-1 lead by the third and added two more late in the game, en route to a 10-3 victory.
Ross Stilborn had two plate crosses, Beau Swan had two newcomer Craig Kinvig had one, Shwaga and Dan Lamb each had one.
Stilborn went the full seven innings and for the first time in years, the Cardinals were dubbed the away team in their own backyard, meaning Stilborn was on the mound in the bottom of the seventh.
He allowed all three runs off of three hits, walked two and struck out eight.
In that second game, the Cardinals loaded the bases twice in third inning, in which a bases-loaded walk by Dalane Lamb scored assistant coach/third baseman Jacobs and Kinvig scored on a sacrifice fly to centre field by Travis Nesbitt.
In the next inning, Kinvig led off with a double, and went on to steal third base, but the team couldn't drive him home.
FRIDAY NIGHT
The Juniors ended up going 2-3 in weekend action. It started down the highway in Willowbrook on Friday night.
Assistant coach Jacobs said that Matt Poier did all the work on the mound.
"Matt went the distance," Jacobs explained. "He was unbelievable. He throws hard. He never even walked a guy."
He also pitched a 6-0 shutout.
The Juniors recording what stood up to be the winning/lone run in the second and got a little insurance in the third inning. They also hit 10 times and both teams were hit with an error.
Ninety-eight per cent of the Cardinals' roster was credited with a hit. Stilborn was the lone player who had two. Poier's digits included facing 27 batters, allowing five hits and also struck out five.
Yorkton next game following the Sunday night victory, was scheduled for last night when the Canora Supers were slated to visit the redbirds. Game results were not available in time for press. Yorkton plays at Pirie Field in Melville Friday night. Opening pitch is at 7:30 p.m. The Junior Cardinals, Yorkton Yankees and Canora Supers are all within four points of each other in the South East Senior Baseball League standings. The Juniors are in top spot with a 6-0 record for 12 points. The Yankees are in second with 10, while the Supers sit with eight.
