The Southeast Performance Pump Midget AAA Twins climbed a few mountains to come back and win games this season, but the three deficits they faced at provincials this week were too high to climb even for them.
The Twins lost in three straight games in the round robin Friday and Saturday at Lynne Prime Park and watched on the sidelines Sunday as the playoffs rolled on.
Still, the team never gave up in games Saturday, responding to a 12-2 opening night loss to the Saskatoon Diamondbacks with much closer games Saturday, an 8-7 loss to the Regina White Sox and a 13-11, nine inning loss to the Regina Wolfpack.
“We decided to start playing a little bit of baseball and it showed we could play with the guys,” said Twins head coach Blaine Kovach. “Maybe if something different had happened earlier in the tournament, we could have been playing Sunday.”
Friday against the Diamondbacks, the team had a terrible fourth inning and couldn't bounce back in time to save from getting down to the mercy rule. With the score 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Nolan Marchibroda cleared the loaded bases with a smash triple to right field. He would score on a wild pitch to make it 5-0 and the hits kept coming for the Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks made the score 7-0 by the end of the fourth and tacked on four more runs when the Twins added a pair of runs in the fifth.
The next morning, the Twins had to beat the Regina White Sox to try to fight back in the tournament, and put on some runners in the early going but couldn't match the White Sox run for run early on, leaving on a pile of baserunners in the early going.
“That was one we had to win and the boys knew it too, and it just wasn't falling for us,” said Kovach. “Lots of our hit just went right to the other guys, and that's just how it goes. That's baseball.”
The White Sox had a 7-0 lead in the fifth inning when the Twins bats came alive with a pair of runs. Walker Happ walked with the bases loaded, and a ball hit Ryan Gaab, the next batter, to score a pair for the Twins.
After the White Soc scored in the following inning, Gaab hit a single to score Evan LcLarty and Layne Shad hit a sacrifice fly a couple of batters later to score another run. Then, Happ's fly ball was misplayed by the centrefielder, allowing another run to score and make the game 8-5.
The Twins kept the Whiet Sox off the scoreboard in the following inning. With one out, Luke Niemegeers hit a double to score McLarty to bring the Twins to within two. After Jaxon Robertson flew out and Gaab was hit with a pitch, a wild pitch with Tyren Dorrance at the plate scored Niemegeers, with Gaab at second base representing the tying run. But Dorrance popped up a foul ball to end the gane.
The Saturday night game with the Wolfpack was meaningless when it came to the tournament standings but the teams played full out to end their seasons. They were tied 7-7 after seven innings when the Twins scored two in the bottom of the seventh, and under international rules, each extra inning would start with runners at first and second. Both teams played a scoreless eighth before six runs came in the top of the ninth for the Wolfpack. The Twins could only respond with four of their own before the third out.
“We've come from behind a lot more than I'd like,” said Kovach. “It just seems the bats come alive at the end and going to international rules, it's anyone's game after that. Those international rules are scary to play with and you never want to get there.”
The leading hitter at the tournament for the Twins was Niemegeers, who went 5-for-12 with two doubles and a triple. Rhett Nikolejsin went 4-for-8 with three RBI and Dorrance was also 4-for-8 with two RBI.
