From the moment the Estevan 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games baseball tournament began, Team South East put the other teams on notice that they would be a powerhouse.
They trounced Team Saskatoon 12-2 in a game that was called after five innings – two innings earlier than the standard seven in minor baseball.
“That was a big win, especially against a city team,” said coach Blaine Kovach. “They’re always coming in tough, and having a mercy win in that game was a huge, huge confidence boost.”
Later that night, they defeated Team Lakeland 11-4. It marked the only game in which they trailed after an inning, as they were down 1-0 after the first two frames.
The following day, they defeated Rivers West 13-3 in five innings to finish the round robin with a 3-0 record, and then they held on for a 10-9 win over Prairie Central in the semifinal round.
The host team had a 10-4 lead entering the seventh and final inning against Prairie Central, and then surrendered five runs before recording the final out.
They capped their perfect tournament Wednesday afternoon with a 9-8 victory over Team Regina in the gold medal game. Once again, the seventh inning was the toughest, as the South East squad scored four times in the top of the seventh to take a commanding 9-4 lead, only to have Regina score four times in the bottom half of the inning to make it interesting.
Team South East opened the gold medal game with two runs in the top of the first inning. The first four batters reached base, and Kendall Keller and Dylan Hull scored.
But Regina responded with two of their own in the bottom of the first, with Dylan Edmands and James Hom scoring.
Estevan regained the lead in the top of the second when Kellar scored on a passed ball. Regina had a glorious chance to tie the game in the bottom half, as they had the bases loaded, but they couldn’t muster the tying run.
Neither team scored in the third, but in the fourth, Kellar scored on a passed ball for the second time in the game. Regina cut the lead in half when Jesus Ramas hit a home run. Then they tied the game in the fifth when Dryden Blaus scored on a ground rule double.
Regina loaded the bases for the second time in the game that inning, but once again couldn’t capitalize.
In the sixth, Team South East took the lead when Jose Reyes scored on a two-out, ground-rule double by Dylan Hull. And it appeared the South East would add another run, but Tyren Dorrance was robbed of a hit by Riley Gust.
In the top of the seventh, Burke Lyons and Dawson Schaff opened the inning with singles, but the next two hitters struck out. A single by Reyes scored Lyons, a double by Ty Nikolejsin plated Schaff and Reyes, and a single by Hull scored Nikolejsin to give the South East the big lead.
“It’s pretty hard to find two-out runs, but today we squeaked a few through, that was the big thing with those two-out hits,” said Kovach.
It also reflected their depth, as Reyes and Nikolejsin are the eighth and ninth hitters in their lineup.
“That’s important for a ball team,” said Kovach. “The bottom part of the lineup has to be just as strong as the top. We definitely showed that if the top guys can’t get it done, the bottom will do it for us.”
Regina’s first three hitters – Dryden Blaus, Aiden Gartner and Alex McDougall – reached base in the bottom of the seventh. After Ethan Kleback struck out, Manny Ramas hit a three-run double to pull Regina to within two runs. Manny Ramos then scored on a fielder’s choice to trim the deficit to one.
But Edmands lined out to third baseman Liam Rutten to end the ball game.
“I was calling pitches, and my heart was just racing,” said Kovach. “I couldn’t believe it. We did it (gave up late runs) last night, and we did it again, but the boys pulled through.”
Kyle Parras started the game for the South East, and pitched the first four innings. Keller came on in relief, and handled the final three stanzas to be the winning pitcher.
Edmands, Ramas, Gartner and McDougall shared the pitching duties for Regina.
Kovach said he knew during tryouts that Team South East would be a threat to win gold in Estevan.
“The boys definitely showed it today,” said Kovach.
Saskatoon defeated Prairie Central 9-2 to win the bronze medal game.
