The stands weren't quite as full as they usually are for North Battleford Beavers games Monday night, no doubt due to the cold weather.
The chilly conditions didn't cool down the offence, though. The Beavers took on the Lloydminster Juniors in North Saskatchewan River Baseball League action in what turned out to be a game packed with offence.
Aaron Cadrin started for the Beavers and looked like he might deliver the team's second straight solid pitching performance as he got Juniors batter Reid Flasch to groundout and followed it up by striking out Brett Kustaski. With two outs, Cadrin let the next five players get on base, which combined for three runs.
Kyle Gregoire led off the bottom half of the first in a big way, belting a solo home run over the right field fence. Matthew Benson followed the homer up with a single and a stolen base, but three straight ground outs would end the inning.
The second and third innings went by fairly quietly for both teams before the Juniors woke back up in the fourth when Kustaski hit an RBI double to add to the lead.
Lloydminster would have needed more than that to faze the Beavers, who exploded in their half of the inning, scoring five runs. Once again the hero was Gregoire, who cashed two baserunners on a hard-hit triple.
Cadrin walked Cole Kustaski to start the fifth, but got Matt Rau to ground into a double-play, which shut down the Juniors for the inning.
The Beavers came back out on offence looking to do even more damage than they had the previous inning, and they came close. Four runs were scored in the inning, which should have meant sure victory as they were up 10-4 through five innings.
Gregoire came out to pitch the sixth inning. All the club had to do was keep the Juniors to five runs or fewer through two innings and the game was theirs. Seven of Lloydminster's first eight batters reached base in an error filled inning, cutting the lead to a single run with only one out. It was looking like another heartbreaking loss for the Beavers, but Gregoire managed to strike out Linden Springer and Travis Kusch to end the inning.
Needing to pad the lead, the Beavers took the field offensively and were set down in order, strikeout, flyout and groundout. Back to defence.
With all of the momentum on the Juniors' side, Gregoire came out and shook off the rough sixth inning. He sat down three straight batters, giving the Beavers their second win in a row. It also evened up their record to 3-3.
Beaver Lions Stadium will be quiet for the next couple weeks as the team plays three straight road games and won't be back in town until June 27.
In the only other game last night, the Mervin Flyers were victorious over the Standard Hill Lakers 6-4, giving them their first win of the season.
Statistics from the game:
Aaron Cadrin: Pitching - 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 K, 2 BB
Kyle Gregoire: Pitching - 2 IP, 1 ER, 4 K, 2 BB Batting - 2-3, 3 RBI, 1 BB
Matthew Benson: Batting - 2-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB
Tyler Russell: Batting - 0-4
Jared Inkster: Batting - 0-1, 2 BB
Brad Eischen: Batting - 0-3, 1 K, 1 BB
Rory Gregoire: Batting - 2-4, 1 RBI
Ryan Myers: Batting - 1-3, 1 RBI
Blair Geering: Batting - 0-1, 1 K, 1 BB
Donovan Baxter: Batting - 2-3, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Brandon Gregoire: Batting - 1 BB
