A solid effort this past weekend at Saskatoon’s Kilburn Park for the 2015 mosquito AAA Provincial Championships propelled the Estevan mosquito A KPC Sluggers to a berth in the semi-finals, but the Sunday morning game ended up being as far as they would go.
The Sluggers lost 8-2 to the Regina White Sox in the semi-final after posting a 2-1 record in round-robin play and finishing first in their pool. The loss ends the Sluggers' year and mosquito ball for a number of players who will be moving up to the peewee ranks next summer.
“The boys played well,” said Ryan Siever, coach of the Sluggers. “The White Sox hit the ball well and we ran into a good pitcher and just had trouble getting a few hits in a row to score some runs. We got a couple there, but we just didn’t get enough to keep us close.”
The Sluggers earned first place in pool A by first beating the Saskatoon Cardinals 8-7 Friday night. Down 7-3 to begin play in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Estevan boys scored five runs including a walk-off to win it and take a 1-0 record into the second day.
“Then we played the Regina White Sox, who were in our pool as well, the next day and we beat them 9-8,” said Siever. “That one, we actually had a four-run lead into the top of the sixth, we were the home team, and we ended up having three scored against us. We made the final out of the game at home plate to win it by one, so that gave us a chance to win first place.”
With the Cardinals beating the Saskatoon Blue Jay Nationals, the Sluggers locked up the top position in the pool making their Saturday afternoon 10-6 loss to the Blue Jay Nationals a moot point.
Siever said he is very proud of the kids who worked hard during the season to finish as the third best team in Saskatchewan mosquito AAA baseball. He said it was a good experience to coach the club and see the boys grow as ball players over the course of the year.
The team will see seven players (Derek Weinrauch, Hayden Lavoie, Mason Ficther, Holden Shaver, Jackson Miller, Lucas Fleck and Tyler Saigeon) move up to peewee ball next year. Siever said the team is going to miss them, but the returning players should make the team strong with all the competition they’ve played against this season.
“Having that experience and playing not just for provincials, but playing all year in a lot of good games and a couple A finals, it helps them grow and know what to expect when they go into games like this in the future.”
