The KPC Estevan mosquito AAA Sluggers fell 5-3 to the White Butte Broncos in the third-versus-fourth game in the Baseball Regina league playoffs last Saturday at Queen City's Columbus Park, but strong play throughout the one-day tournament showcased the improvements the club has made during the season.
Ryan Siever, coach of the Sluggers, said they held a 3-0 lead over the Broncos in the early goings of the game and were playing well for the most part, but a few passed balls allowed their opposition to get back into it. He said the game was their third of the day with not much of a break between outings, but the kids were still battling and trying their hardest to pull out the win.
The Sluggers, which entered the playoffs in sixth place in the Baseball Regina league with a record of 5-15, began the tournament with a 12-2 comeback win over the third-place Weyburn Beavers. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, the Sluggers dominated the play for the rest of the game thanks to an outstanding performance on the mound by Hunter Siever.
The win placed the team in the A semifinal against the second-seeded Regina White Sox. The Sluggers were right in the mix with the White Sox only losing 3-2 going into the bottom of the fifth inning, but that was as close as they would get.
“We just ran out of gas I guess,” said Siever. “Six runs against us in the one inning, the bottom of the fifth there, and it was just a little bit too much to overcome, but the boys made some nice plays in the field that game. Had a couple of diving catches from our fielders which was nice, so the kids played well. We know some errors are going to happen over the course of a game and that's expected, but it's nice to see them have the confidence to try and make those diving plays.”
Siever said the team seems focused and into the game, which is good to see with a Melville tournament coming up this weekend and the provincial championships following the next weekend. He said they've been in every game this season and have seemed to really turn things up in the last couple of weeks.
“I expect four to five games in Melville and these kids to be mentally prepared to go in and play these games competitively,” he said. “Three games on Saturday back to back to back was a bit tough, so the nice thing that we'll have in Melville is our games are spaced out a bit. We'll play one Friday, two Saturday and then one or possibly two Sunday depending on how we're doing. I expect to be in all those games and I think we'll definitely compete for the A final in that tournament.”
