UNITY - The Estevan U18 AA Brewers baseball team made it to the provincial final at the Tier 1 championship in Unity on the weekend.
The Brewers dropped a 12-1 decision in six innings to the host Unity Cardinals in the final.
Estevan opened the tournament with a convincing 13-4 victory over the Northeast Expos, thanks in large part to five runs in the first and five more in the fifth. Tayce Miller led the way offensively with two hits, three runs scored and three runs batted in (RBIs), and also didn’t allow a hit in two innings of relief.
The next game was a 9-1 loss to the Unity Cardinals. Cade Bendtsen had three hits, including a home run, for the Brewers.
Their final game of the round robin was a 7-6 victory over the Saskatoon Athletics. Estevan needed the win to reach a tie-breaker on Sunday morning. Tanyan Strudwick led a balanced attack with two runs and two RBIs.
Bendtsen came on in relief and didn’t allow a run in three innings.
Estevan played three games on Sunday. First was a 9-6 win over the Expos in the tie-breaker. Estevan scored four times in the fifth inning to lead 9-2. Kaleb Poole had two triples, two runs and an RBI.
Justin Linthicum and Kaleb Bechtold were on the mound for the Brewers.
Up next for the Brewers was a 17-7, six-inning rout over the Weyburn Beavers. Estevan held an 11-6 lead through three, and then tacked on four in the fifth and two in the sixth. Riley Nevin had four hits and scored five times, while Kaleb Bechtold had four hits, four runs and three RBIs.
Bendtsen and Bechtold were on the mound for Estevan.
The final was close early on, with Unity leading 1-0 through two, but the Cardinals pulled away with three in the third, fourth and sixth innings. Daylen Babyak had a run and a hit for Estevan.
Strudwick and Nevin were on the mound for Estevan.
Provincials wrapped up what was a successful year for the Brewers. They had the top record in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League during the regular season, and then won the league title with an extra innings decision over the Cardinals.
Their overall record for the season was 29-4, and included a 20-game winning streak.
