ESTEVAN - The host teams at the provincial baseball tournaments in Estevan on the weekend had terrific showings.
The Estevan under-11 (U11) Brewers finished second in the U11 AA Tier 4 tournament, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Maidstone Lakers in extra innings in what was a thrilling provincial final.
The Estevan U15 AA Brewers, meanwhile, were defeated 12-11 in the semifinal round by the White Butte Broncos.
The U11 Brewers won just one game in the Regina Baseball League during the regular season, but that didn’t matter once provincials started. Estevan opened play on Friday with a pair of convincing victories: 10-0 over the Weyburn Beavers and 14-1 over the Saskatoon Blue Jays Knockouts.
Estevan didn’t play on Saturday, but that didn’t stop them from regaining their momentum on Sunday. They defeated the Lumsden Cubs 5-2 on Sunday morning to advance to the final, where they faced a Maidstone team that won all three games by at least 10 runs.
Maidstone had a 3-1 advantage entering the top of the sixth and final inning, but Estevan scored twice to tie the game and force extra innings.
The Brewers notched the first two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but then Maidstone loaded the bases and scored the winning run on a base hit.
Brewers coach Joe Williamson praised the efforts of the players throughout the weekend.
“We had some strong pitching,” said Williamson. “Tayson Tangjerd pitched a total of 10 innings with 28 strikeouts and only gave up one hit. Cale Kuchinka pitched innings. He faced the toughest team in the tournament on Sunday.”
He noted the Brewers gave up six runs in four games this weekend.
Opening the tournament with the lopsided win over Weyburn was a big confidence booster, he said, and Estevan went into the second game with a better mindset.
The final was an exciting and emotional game to be part of.
“It’s a really young team,” said Williamson. “We lost a lot of games this year. It’s tough, but they battled.”
Estevan was one of the few teams to have first-year players in the Baseball Regina league this year. Most teams just had second and third-year players.
“We have a good base for next year, and we’ll be that much better,” said Williamson.
The Regina Baseball League is a AAA circuit, while Estevan was playing at a AA level at provincials, but they still played well.
The Estevan U15 Brewers went 1-3 at the Tier 4 provincials, but were still on the cusp of reaching the final. They opened the tournament with a convincing 13-2 triumph over the Saskatoon Cardinals.
The U15 Brewers dropped both of their games on Saturday: 12-10 to the Canora Reds and 8-5 to the Regina White Sox. But their record was still good enough to make the playoffs.
Estevan lost a 12-11 decision to the White Butte Broncos in the semifinal. White Butte was playing the Regina Blue Jays in the final.
The U15 Brewers were comprised of players from Estevan’s U15 house league teams.
All games for both provincial were played at Mel Murray Cactus Park.
This week’s edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.
