Off to a strong start to their 2014 Western Major Baseball League campaign the Yorkton Cardinals were halted not by an opponent this week, but by Mother Nature as rain delays cancelled the majority of the ballclub's games last week.
Yorkton's home doubleheader with the Weyburn Beavers was pushed back once again due to wet conditions making it impossible to get in a nine inning game, let along two back to back contests. Regina didn't have much luck with the weather either as their game at Currie Field against the Cardinals was also cancelled, making it three games in a row in which Yorkton's games would be delayed in what is a league wide epidemic thanks to the wet weather in Western Canada in June.
On the positive side Yorkton did get on the field for three games last week, hosting the Regina Red Sox between road trips to play Weyburn and the Moose Jaw Miller Express in enemy territory in what was an up and down weekend not just weather wise, but also on the field as the Cardinals would drop two of their games to fall back to one game below .500 as the month comes closer to an end.
After three game cancellations the Cardinals after their win over the Moose Jaw Miller Express brought them back to having a winning record Yorkton would have to travel for a rematch with the Central Division's only winning team on Saturday. Codi Scanlon would get the start for Yorkton in search of his second win of the season on the mound after the Cards pitching staff got plenty of rest during the week.
After a scoreless first inning for both teams, an error by the shortstop with one out would give Moose Jaw a valuable baserunner that would eventually get cashed in for the first run of the game on a fielder's choice to put the Miller Express out in front by a single run in the early goings, giving starter Terry McNabb the slightest of run support to work with thanks to the 1-0 lead after two innings.
That lead would evaporate with one swing of the bat as after Matt Collier advanced to first base on a wild pitch on a third strike, Cardinals outfielder Cameron Duncan hit his first home run of the 2014 season to give himself two RBI's and his team the lead in the top of the third inning in Moose Jaw. The two run homer also gave Duncan his eighth RBI of the season just 14 games into the Cardinals campaign as Duncan continues to be one of the top performers in the Yorkton lineup so far.
Scanlon would hold onto Yorkton's 2-1 lead all the way until the bottom of the sixth inning where a leadoff hit from the Express' Miles Hunter would put the starter in danger late into his start. Hunter would then put even more pressure on Scanlon by stealing a base before advancing to third on a sacrifice fly to put himself in scoring position to tie the game with just one out for the Miller Express in the inning. Frank Pluskota would get an infield single that didn't drive in Hunter, but it did get Pluskota to second base thanks to an infield error that allowed the hitter to take a free base as Scanlon continued to have the pressure pile on after nearly getting the second out with Hunter still on third base.
With runners on second and third the Miller Express would finally tie up the game, getting the sacrifice fly they were looking for from Ben Douglas to even the score at 2-2. However with two outs Moose Jaw decided to go grab the lead from Yorkton as Brennan Reidy's two out single would give the Miller Express a 3-2 lead. With the one run lead in hand, Dylan Hanson would extend that lead to 5-2 with a home run of his own to answer Duncan's two run shot in the top of the third and give Moose Jaw a lead that ultimately was good enough for the win.
Kameron Mizzell would put Yorkton back to within 5-3 with an RBI in the top of the eighth, but Moose Jaw would answer back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the winning before closing the door in the top of the ninth to secure a 7-3 victory over the Cards.
Scanlon would go six full innings for Yorkton in the loss, giving up six hits as well as walking a batter and striking out four despite being on the mound for five of Moose Jaw's runs. Falling apart in the sixth inning, Scanlon was not helped out by his infielders whose errors allowed the Miller Express to rally in the innings that Scanlon gave up runs in which kept his ERA down as the majority of Moose Jaw's runs went down as unearned in the loss on the mound for the native of Portland, Oregon.
Meanwhile Moose Jaw starter Terry McNabb went nearly the complete game, pitching a strong eight inning outing in a five strikeout performance giving up just eight hits and the three runs by the way of the Cameron home run and Mizzell's RBI. The Davidson, Saskatchewan product pushed his record on the mound to a staggering 5-0 on the season with a 1.85 ERA for the Miller Express and the Cardinals giving one of the best pitchers in the WMBL a run for his money was a positive sign that the bats are continuing to produce at a high level even when put up against the best pitching in the league.
Errors ultimately were the deciding factor between a win and a loss for Yorkton as they equalled the Miller Express in hits and got a strong outing from their starting pitcher but could not stop shooting themselves in the foot in the field with a worrying five errors on the night. If the Cardinals want to consistently win baseball games, five error nights will need to become something of the past as Yorkton quite frankly handed Moose Jaw some baserunners they did not need to in the loss.
Travelling back to Yorkton to host the Red Sox at Jubilee Park on Sunday the Cardinals would face another tough outing as their pitching was not up to task right from the start of the game, getting shelled for four runs in the top of the first as starter Max Chadsey failed to find his groove on the mound in what was a looming sign that things were not going to go the way of the hosts on Sunday night after the 2:05 p.m. start was pushed back to a 7:30 p.m. night time affair between the two long time East Division foes.
Regina would add a run in the top of the third before scoring five runs in the top of the fifth inning on their way to an 11-6 rout of Yorkton who did manage to add four runs in the bottom of the ninth in a too little, too late rally for their second straight loss. Yorkton went through five pitchers in between Chadsey and four relievers as the Red Sox batters seemingly hit everything on Sunday night.
Still holding onto a playoff spot in the East despite the short two game slide, the Cardinals would face the last place Weyburn Beavers in Weyburn to close out their week. Starting their ace in Jeff Pool, the Cardinals had a right to feel confident in a game that was important in making a statement that this year Yorkton will not allow themselves to slip out of the playoffs.
Thanks to veteran Kameron Mizzell's bat, the Cardinals would send that message to the Weyburn Beavers in a 4-2 win that saw the catcher/relief pitcher from Alabama hit two, two run home runs to lift Yorkton to back within one game of .500 and to distance themselves from Weyburn for the last playoff spot in the East Division.
Currently Yorkton sit third in the East Division as of Wednesday morning, a half game back of second place and the Melville Millionaires but most importantly a game and a half up on Weyburn. Making their goals of a playoff finish in 2014 more of a likely reality than a potential hope as after nearly one month of baseball the Cardinals are playing at the highest level the city has seen in years.
Keeping that pace will be important to securing a strong finish in the East next month, but four straight home games over the Canada Day long weekend will give Yorkton plenty of chances, entering July it looks like winning baseball may be here to stay in 2014.
