It was a home game away from home for the Weyburn Beavers, but that didn't seem to bother the Western Major Baseball League club on Monday, as they defeated the Yorkton Cardinals 5-3 at Lynn Prime Park.
It was a key contest, as the Beavers now sit three and a half games ahead of the Cardinals for third place in the East Division.
The WMBL, which includes teams from Saskatchewan and Alberta, is comprised of college players who come up to Canada to continue playing in the summer.
With Estevan having the population base and facilities to potentially support a WMBL team, the game acted as a showcase of sorts for the market. It had been originally scheduled for June 10, but that game was rained out.
Members of the 2008 KPC Blazers, who won the Western Canadian midget AAA championship, were honoured before the game.
The Beavers' roster includes two players from that team: Benson pitcher Kris Keating and Bienfait outfielder Dylan Lafrentz.
Weyburn took the lead in the first inning on a two-run double by Chris Manning, driving in Michael Lukkason and Ryan Bourcier. In the third, Spencer Mallonee added to the lead, coming home on a groundout.
The Cardinals got on the board in the fourth, with Kameron Mizzell hitting a sacrifice fly to score George Santiago.
The score remained 3-1 until the eighth inning, when the Beavers tacked on some insurance.
Manning doubled again to bring in Bourcier, and Spencer Kidder hit a sac fly to score Manning.
Weyburn would need those runs, as Yorkton scored two of their own in the top of the ninth.
Ben Grillo led off the inning with a double, then scored on a triple by Dylan Gross. Gross later scored on a groundout to first base.
Lafrentz batted eighth in the order for the Beavers, going 1-for-3 with a strikeout. Manning led the team, hitting 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run.
Ben Grillo batted 2-for-4 with a run for the Cardinals.
Beavers starter Ben Moore threw seven strong innings, allowing one run, scattering six hits, striking out three and walking three. Daniel Brown came on for the eighth, allowing two runs on three hits, three strikeouts and a walk. Kidder closed out the ninth, allowing one hit.
For Yorkton, starter A.J. Martinez also went seven innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, three strikeouts and three walks. Jeff Pool came in to work the eighth, surrendering two runs on one hit and a strikeout.
