WEYBURN -- The Weyburn Beavers gave the Saskatoon Berries everything they could handle in a pair of Western Canadian Baseball League contests on Friday night, but a pair of late inning rallies would be their undoing.
The Berries battled to an 8-6 win to close out a game that had been postponed in the sixth inning one night earlier and then took a 4-2 victory in the regularly scheduled contest at Tom Laing Park. The Swift Current 57’s were the only other Saskatchewan team in action on Friday and dropped an 8-3 decision to the Mavericks in Medicine Hat.
Saskatoon 8, Weyburn 6
The Berries took a 5-2 lead out of the first inning but saw Weyburn claw their way back into things, eventually tying the game 6-6 with a pair of runs in the fifth. That set the stage for Saskatoon’s Bailyn Sorensen in the eighth, as he’d belt a two-run home run to give the Berries the lead for good.
Sorensen finished with a pair of runs and three runs batted in on the night, while Carter Beck and Corey Wouters each hit solo round trippers. Abiam Medina and Jalen Freemen each had three hits on the night.
Robert Gurney hit a two-run homer in the second inning for the Beavers, Ryan Dauphinee belted his 12th double of the season and scored a pair of runs. Zach Tanabe also hit a double and knocked in two runs.
Merek Yeager started for Saskatoon and allowed four runs on five hits over four innings, Noah McCombs picked up the win after tossing a scoreless sixth and seventh. Tanner Hosick pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the save.
Owen McConnell got the start for Weyburn and went 4 ⅔, giving up six runs on 12 hits. Jaxon Henderson took the loss after allowing the two runs in the eighth.
Saskatoon 4, Weyburn 2
Things were once again close in the early going of the nightcap, with Saskatoon leading 2-1 after the first and Weyburn tying the game in the third. There things would remain until the sixth inning, when the Berries put up a pair of runs to secure the win.
Robert Bonilla and Klevert Martina each gave up a run while pitching two innings apiece for Saskatoon before Colin Plain earned the win thanks to a scoreless fifth and sixth. Clay Mixon picked up the save.
Ethan Webster had a decent outing for Weyburn, giving up four runs on five hits over six innings and striking out seven.
Beck was the only Berry with an extra base hit, hitting a double and going 2-for-4 while scoring a run. Cooper Wesslund also had two hits.
Alex Alva and Brayden Mayencourt had a pair of hits each for Weyburn, Dauphinee knocked in a pair.
Saskatoon is now 29-5 on the season and remain in first place in the East Division, Weyburn fell to 8-26 with their fifth-straight loss and are in fifth in the East.
Medicine Hat 8, Swift Current 3
The 57’s kept things close early, but Medicine Hat would put up three in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead before pulling away with a pair of runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings.
The ball was flying out of Athletic Park for the Mavericks, as Jeremy Freeman Jr., Adam Vulcano, Aaron Vulcano and Blake Dale all hit round trippers. Freeman Jr. also scored a pair of runs and hit his 13th double of the season while knocking in a pair.
Gus Koehn and Silas Hilton were both 2-for-4 with a double, Enrique Reyes also had a pair of hits.
Fawster Voytko turned in a quality start for Medicine Hat, allowing a single run on six hits over six innings of work to earn the win.
Shunta Furuya took the loss, giving up four runs on seven hits in 3 ⅔ innings of work.
Medicine Hat improves to 24-13 and are second in the East, Swift Current falls to 7-27 and remain sixth in the East.
Saskatchewan teams have four games on tap Saturday, with Regina in Weyburn for a doubleheader (4:05 p.m. and 7:05 p.m.), while Swift Current is in Saskatoon (6 p.m.) and Moose Jaw is in Medicine Hat (7:05 p.m.).
