The Estevan TS&M Peewee AA Tornadoes dropped all three of their games at the Legasse Tournament in Regina from May 19 to 21.
The Tornadoes opened the tournament with an 8-6 defeat against the Swift Current 57s. The Twins had a 6-4 lead entering the sixth and final inning, but the 57s stormed back with four runs in the top of the sixth.
“We were able to get a couple outs, but we couldn’t get that final out,” said Siever.
In the bottom half of the inning, they couldn’t score the runs needed for a rally.
“The boys battled hard,” he said. “We got a really good pitching performance out of Derek Weinrauch. He struggled a little bit in the first inning, but from there, he was able to get us through the next four within his pitch limit, which was nice to see.”
They also struggled in the field in the first inning against Swift Current, but they played better defensively as the game went along.
Siever noted they had three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning that turned a 4-3 deficit into the 6-4 lead.
The second game was a 7-5 loss against the Carillon Sultans, a team from the Winnipeg area. Mason Fichter pitched a complete game over five innings.
Siever said the Twins again struggled in the field early in the game, but they improved as the contest went along.
“The kids played well in that game again, but just came up a little bit short,” said Siever. “I thought we had a good chance to win both of those games, which was nice to see, but the other hand is when the bats go cold, it makes it tough to win a game.”
Their final game was against the Weyburn Beavers. By that point, Siever said they knew they wouldn’t advance to the playoff round, since only the top four teams from the 10-team tournament reach the playoffs.
The Tornadoes dropped a 7-2 decision. The hitters didn’t hit with much authority.
Hayden Lavoie started the game, and then Carter Porter came on in relief in the third inning. Both started well, but Siever said they had trouble finding the strike zone as the game went along. Mitch Himmelspach pitched in the final inning.
Siever was pleased with how the team fielded the ball during the weekend, outside of the hiccups early in the games.
“We’ve been telling the boys that errors might end up happening, but if we can come back and make the next play, then that’s nice to see,” said Siever.
As the offence comes around, Siever said the Tornadoes will be competitive against anybody they play.
