If any North Battleford Beavers fans went to Friday evening's game wishing there would be more than seven innings left of play at Beaver Lions Stadium, there wishes came true.
It took 10 innings of back and forth baseball to decide a winner between the Beavers and the Lloydminster Midgets.
The game would be a pitching duel, with Aaron Cadrin of North Battleford and Blake Robertson of Lloydminster going back and forth with strong innings.
It didn't look like a strong pitching matchup early, the Midgets scored two runs in the first inning. The Beavers were sat down quietly, other than a two out double by Jared Inkster, who got stranded on second base.
Cadrin settled down in the second inning. He did give up a triple with two outs, but got out of the jam by getting his fifth strikeout of the game.
In the bottom half of the second, Tyler Russell had a leadoff walk. Derrick Chapman followed it up with a sacrifice bunt, moving Russell to second base. With one out, Blair Geering ripped an RBI double, putting the Beavers on the board. Brandon Gregoire hit a single, moving Geering to third base. With Donovan Baxter at the plate, Geering and Gregoire pulled off a double steal, tying the game at two.
The Beavers kept Lloydminster from adding any runs in the top of the third inning, and in the bottom half, got one of their own. After David Miller hit a lead off ground rule double, Jared Inkster hit a timely single to give the Beavers a 3-2 lead.
The fourth inning went by quietly, but the game got interesting in the fifth. The Midgets were able to cash in a single run after a lead off double, tying the game. With the pitching for both teams working to perfection, there were hints of a long ball game ahead.
Kyle Gregoire got the nod to pitch in the sixth inning. He picked up right where Cadrin left off, striking out two batters and getting another to groundout while giving up a walk.
After the sixth inning went by without much action, the bottom of the seventh had the potential for some dramatics. A lead off infield single for North Battleford meant the winning run was on base with nobody out. Unfortunately for the Beavers, three straight pop outs meant extra innings, and gave Lloydminster another chance.
In the top of the eighth, Gregoire struck out the first batter he saw, his fifth of the game. He surrendered a single, but struck out the next two batters to end the inning without any damage.
The Beavers did little in the bottom of the eighth, Rory Gregoire had a single which was followed up by another pop up and a groundout to end the inning.
Cue the top of the ninth inning. Kyle Gregoire got the first two batters out on a groundout and strikeout, but after giving up a double the tension at Beaver Lions Stadium could have been cut with a knife. A base hit would have likely scored the runner to give the Midgets the lead in extra innings, but Gregoire induced a flyout to end the inning.
A quick bottom half of the ninth was in the works for the Beavers, two straight strikeouts to begin the inning gave the impression a tenth inning was imminent. However, back-to-back singles by C.J. Miller and Brennan Lampitt gave Kyle Gregoire the chance to be a hero. He hit the ball high and deep, but it was caught for the third out.
The Midgets led the tenth inning off with a ground rule double. After the glorious chance the Beavers had to win the game, it looked like the failed execution would now come back to bite them. But, as he had done numerous times to get out of trouble, Gregoire turned to the strikeout. He got three of the Midgets' four batters to go down swinging, with a walk mixed in, to end the inning.
To start the bottom of the tenth, Inkster was hit by a pitch, Rory Gregoire legged out a bunt single and Tyler Russell was intentionally walked. With the bases loaded, nobody out and five Midgets players on the infield to cut down the runner at home, Derrick Chapman stepped up to the plate with the chance to be a hero. The crowd was silent with anticipation as Chapman hit a weak ground ball back to the pitcher, it was another magnificent opportunity to end the game wasted, but the throw home was an errand one and Inkster made it in safely.
The win pushed North Battleford to an 8-6 record to finish the season in dramatic fashion.
With just a single game left on the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League schedule, Tuesday night when the Lloydminster Twins play the Midwest Expos, the standings would imply it's anyone's championship to win.
Atop the standings are the Border City Blue Jays at 11-3. In second, the Lloydminster Twins at 9-4. Tied for third place are the Lloydminster Juniors and Meadow Lake Sox at 9-5. Not far behind sit the Unity Cardinals with an 8-5-1 record. Next are the Beavers, 8-6. Right on their tail are the Midwest Expos at 7-6. The Wilkie Brewers also hovered near the .500 mark, finishing with a 7-6-1 record. The St. Walburg Reds are next at 6-8. Following them are the Standard Hill Lakers at 4-10. And last, but not least, were the Lloydminster Midgets and Mervin Flyers, who both finished the season at 2-12.
Statistics from the game:
Aaron Cadrin - Pitching: 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 K, 1 BB
Kyle Gregoire - Pitching: 5 IP, 0 ER, 11 K, 2 BB Batting: 0-1
Brennan Lampitt - Batting: 2-5
David Miller - Batting: 1-4
Jared Inkster - Batting: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Rory Gregoire - Batting: 4-5, 2 SB
Tyler Russell - Batting: 0-3, 2 BB
Derrick Chapman - Batting: 0-5
Blair Geering - Batting: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Brandon Gregoire - Batting: 1-1, 1 SB, 1 BB
Donovan Baxter - Batting: 0-2
C.J. Miller - Batting: 1-2
