It rained both literally and figuratively for the Junior baseball club in Yorkton last Tuesday night
The Alexander's Mens Wear Junior Cardinals did something they had not done in senior league play in a long time.
They lost a baseball game.
They might have even had a pretty good excuse for it but nobody will likely use it.
Eight nights ago (June 14) on home park, the Junior Cardinals and Canora Supers got together in South East Senior Baseball League action on what turned out to be a see-saw battle on one rainy night.
The Supers were looking to give Yorkton their first loss of the season in SESBL league play and what ended up happening was they did that, doubling up on the Junior Cardinals, thanks to a strong top of the seventh inning, 6-3. With the win, Canora extended their winning streak to six. Cardinals co-coach said Canora pitcher Travis Fogg pitched a very strong game.
Both teams got on the scoreboard in the early going as Yorkton jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first inning. The visitors tied it up and scored the go-ahead run in the third to take a 3-2 lead.
Both teams added one each in the fourth before Canora scored twice in the top of the seventh to win it by a final score of 6-3.
Canora only managed six hits in the game, but three batters were walked and four were hit by pitches.
Six Cardinals recorded at least one hit while Luke Boechler, Dalane Lamb and Jayden Shwaga each scored for the home team.
Craig Kinvig started on the mound for Yorkton and Kent Larsen came on in relief midway through the game.
Following the Canora loss, the Cardinals headed down the highway to Moose Jaw where they got together with the Junior Eagles for a doubleheader June 19.
Dalane Lamb, Yorkton's catcher, said the first game was an 11-0 victory for the visitors, and it was mercied after five innings.
"We didn't really know what to expect," he told the paper upon returning home. Yorkton won by mercy in game one, but fell in game two by a score of 6-3.
"It's tough to sweep a doubleheader," he acknowledged.
In the opening game, he said Yorkton got two runs in the first inning but did most of the damage in the third inning. Ben Walchuk had three RBIs and Ross Stilborn had two as well as three runs scored.
Lamb said Stilborn was also close to hitting a home run at Ross Wells Field.
Pitching-wise, the team got a strong start and finish out of Barrett Nielsen, a friend of Lamb's , whom the two both played hockey in Fort Qu'Appelle. Lamb said he will be picked up again in time for the Junior AAA provincials which Yorkton is hosting later this summer.
In the first game at Moose Jaw, Neilsen pitched all five innings and threw eight strikeouts, walked one, and giving up three hits. He also has WMBL experience from playing in Regina last season.
In the second game, Moose Jaw held a 6-3 lead in the middle of the fifth inning, then it was called due to rain, recalls Lamb. It started in the third and didn't let up, he said. Boechler, Stilborn and Nielsen all had runs scored prior to the calling.
"(We) got into trouble in the third inning," Lamb told the paper. "They got four runs in the third and two in the fifth."
Lamb said Moose Jaw will be a good opponent when the provincials get started.
