SASKATOON - The Estevan TS&M U13 AAA Brewers baseball team had a strong showing at the Baseball Sask. provincials in Saskatoon on the weekend, winning two of three games and coming within a win of advancing to the semifinals.
“I thought that the kids played great,” said coach Darcy Henry.
Estevan opened the tournament with a 14-7 loss to the Regina White Sox on Friday. Henry said the Brewers had a shaky start and fell behind early.
Regina led 5-0 through two innings. Estevan fought back to make it a 10-7 game midway through the sixth inning, but then Regina tacked on four more runs.
“They’ve had our number all year,” said Henry. “They’ve been tough to beat.”
Both of Estevan’s victories came on Saturday. First was an 11-4 over the Saskatoon Braves. Tristan Brownridge pitched a complete game on the mound, and did so in just 77 pitches. Jaxon Kuchinka had two hits and three runs batted in (RBIs) for Estevan.
The Brewers scored seven times in the bottom of the sixth to break open a 4-4 game.
Their third game was a 19-8 rout in five innings over the Saskatoon Blue Jay Bombers. Broden Henry went three innings to get the win, and Kaden Dorrance dominated offensively with three hits, including a home run, and five RBIs.
The Brewers scored 10 times in the second inning, and added five in the fifth.
“The team did really well at defence,” said Darcy Henry. “We hit the ball really well and scored lots of runs. We just ran out of pitching at certain times when we needed it. Other than that, we did really well.”
With four pools of four teams each, the Brewers needed to finish first in their pool during the round robin to reach the semifinals. Both Estevan and the White Sox finished with a 2-1 record in pool play, but the White Sox advanced on account of their win over Estevan.
Henry expected that it would come down to the Brewers and the White Sox for top spot in the pool.
“Us and the White Sox were at the top of our league pretty much all season. We knew that game, that first game, had to be a win, and once we lost, we needed them to lose both of their (remaining) games, but they didn’t,” he said.
The Brewers finished the season with a 16-8-2 record. Henry was pleased with the progress shown by the players, and he looks forward to seeing how the kids will do next year.
Ten of 12 players will graduate to U15 baseball next season.
