The teams of the NSRBL will have one eye on the standings as they enter the home stretch of the regular season after a busy week of baseball.
The Meadow Lake Sox are the hottest team in the league right now, winning their last six games. They began last week with a 11-1 win July 2 over the visiting Mervin Flyers. Sox pitcher Jordan Stacey surrendered two hits over six innings to pick up the win. Quincy Winkler led Meadow Lake's offence with a three-run double. Scott Fransky, Chris Ellis and Kevin Gerwing all had two RBIs in the Meadow Lake victory.
The Sox's sixth straight win came Tuesday night. They dropped the Blue Sox 9-0 in Edam.
The Lloydminster Twins held on to top spot in the NSRBL despite suffering their first loss of the season July 2, dropping a 4-1 decision to the Unity Cardinals. Cory Wildeman gave up one run and four hits over five and a third innings for Unity. Francis Kiefer shut the door for the rest of the game. Wildeman went 3 for 3 at the plate while driving in three runs. Ryan Greenwald also drove in a run for Unity on a sacrifice fly.
The Twins followed the loss with an 8-5 win over the North Battleford Beavers Monday night, making up for a game postponed due to rain earlier in the season. Lloydminster won their second in a row Tuesday night, downing the Macklin Lakers 12-0.
In other games on the evening of July 2, the Wilkie Brewers downed the Macklin Lakers 11-1. Cody Wilgenbusch went 2 for 5 with three runners knocked in to lead the Brewers' offence. The Border City Blue Jays defeated the Midwest Expos 10-1. Bryce Kochan had two hits and drove in three runs for the Blue Jays in the victory. The St. Walburg Reds beat the Standard Hill Lakers 17-4 behind Trevor Bailey's four RBIs and two runs scored. The North Battleford Beavers beat the Edam Blue Sox 10-1. Kyle Gregoire, Ryan Muyers and CJ Millar each knocked in two runs for the Beavers.
July 3's action saw the Unity Cardinals earn a 11-1 win over the Edam Blue Sox. Wildeman and Blake Robertson had two RBIs each in the Cardinals' win. Joe Kohlman's two RBIs led the Macklin Lakers as they edged the Midwest Expos 5-4. The Wilkie Brewers defeated the St. Walburg Reds 8-1 on the strength of Bye Brauns 3 for 3, two RBI evening. The Mervin Flyers snuck by the Lloydminster Twins 3-2. Jordan and Dustin Macnab each drove in a run for the Flyers.
Sunday's lone game saw the North Battleford Beavers earn a 12-9 road victory over the Lakers in Macklin. Bryce Gatzke and Dave Millar each had three RBIs in the Beavers' win. Macklin's Dustin Gartner and Curtis Gette knocked in three runs apiece in a losing effort.
There were three other games Monday night. The Wilkie Brewers won 7-3 against the Unity Cardinals, the St. Walburg Reds lost 7-2 to the Midwest Expos and the Edam Blue Sox edged the Standard Hill Lakers 3-2.
One other game took place Tuesday night. In Mervin, the Flyers handed the Standard Hill Lakers a 9-1 loss.
The six straight wins have pushed the Meadow Lake Sox (12-2) into a first place tie with the Lloydminster Twins (11-1-1). The Border City Blue Jays (9-3) are two games behind in third place. The Unity Cardinals (7-5) are four games back of first place, but hold only a half-game lead over the Midwest Expos (7-6) for fourth place.
The North Battleford Beavers (6-7) and the Wilkie Brewers (5-6-1) are tied for sixth place in the standings. The Mervin Flyers (4-8) hold down the eighth spot in the league, followed closely by the Edam Blue Sox (4-9) and the Macklin Lakers (4-9). Standard Hill (3-9) is 11th, followed by the St. Walburg Reds (3-10) in last place.
