The Yorkton Alexander's Junior Cardinals are headed to the Canadian Nationals in Trois Rivieres, Quebec.
Although not in the way that they would have wanted or expected.
The Junior Cardinals played host to the Junior AAA Provincials Six-team Championships this past weekend.
The winner of the Championships would then head to Trois Rivieres for Nationals while the second and third-place finishers would join the host Regina Red Sox in the Western Canadian Championships. Or so everyone thought.
The Junior Cardinals dropped their opening game of the tournament last Friday against the Lloydminster Redhawks, 3-1.
The loss forced the Cards into a must-win situation in their next two games.
The Cardinals first chance at a victory came later in the evening versus the Regina Athletics. Fortunately, the Juniors proved to be too much for Regina and won handily, 7-3.
The Cardinals then faced off against the Regina Dodgers on Saturday with a spot in the semi-finals on the line.
Yorkton came out swinging and beat a Regina team for the second night in a row, this time by a 13-3 margin.
The win gave Yorkton a berth in the tournament semi-finals versus Lloydminster, who had finished on top of Pool 'B'.
Revenge was sweet for the Cardinals as they piled up runs from the get-go on Lloydminster and earned a finals spot with a 14-1 victory.
Cardinals pitcher Ross Stilborn had a very solid outing in the victory.
After dropping their first game to the Redhawks, Stilborn was pleased that his team rebounded in such convincing fashion.
"It really felt good to come out and beat them today after losing that first game," he details.
Stilborn was quick to credit the offensive support he received on the day.
"We've been playing good ball this whole weekend and obviously that last game our hitting really came around," he says.
Justin Stupak did his part for the Cardinals cause, contributing a three-run homerun in the first inning.
After the 14-1 drubbing, Stilborn pointed out that the Cardinals still had one goal in mind. To win the tournament.
"We've got a good group of kids here. They're looking forward to this next game."
The final of the Junior AAA Provincials pitted the Jr. Cardinals against the Raymore Renegades. Both teams had finished second-place in their respective Pools.
On an important note, Raymore had made it known previously that they would be unable to participate in Nationals upon winning the tournament title.
Therefore, the Junior Cardinals victory over Lloydminster guaranteed the team a trip to Trois Rivieres, Quebec.
Although that was settled, the tournament champion was yet to be decided.
Raymore received the distinction as the 'home team' for the game after winning a coin toss.
The Cards started out fast in the championship, going ahead 3-0 after the first inning.
Scott Sharp's single with the bases loaded brought home two runners to extend the lead to 3-0.
Cardinals starting pitcher Justin Stupak had a solid outing going before he ran into trouble in the bottom of the second inning.
With the bases-loaded, Raymore produced a two-run single, followed by two more runs to take a 4-3 lead.
Stupak would pitch one more inning before giving way to right-handed pitcher Matt Totte.
Travis Nesbitt was able to bring the game back on even terms in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI single.
Raymore responded by loading up the bases again in the bottom of the inning. Converting on their chances, the Renegades scored three runs on four hits to make the score 7-4.
The Cardinals would again mount a comeback with two runs in the top of the fifth thanks to an error by the Raymore third-baseman.
Again, Raymore responded. A run off of an error and an RBI single restored the Yorkton deficit back to the three runs heading into the final two innings.
A Justin Stupak RBI on a stand-up triple in the top of the sixth inning made the score 9-7 with only one inning left.
Tensions were high in the top of the seventh inning as Ross Stilborn came to bat. Stilborn was faced with the bases-loaded and two outs.
The standout pitcher this time made an impact with his bat.
Stilborn smacked a two-run RBI single with the Cardinals hopes in the balance, scoring Tyler McKee and Dalane Lamb. The game was tied up at nine apiece.
Stilborn's hit was remarkable, especially considering the prophetic comment he had made after the Lloydminster semifinals win.
"This whole year when it comes down to crunch time we've always got the job done. We have a lot of confidence in the team when it comes down to that time and we get the job done," Stilborn recounted.
The Renegades proceeded to go scoreless in the 'home' half of the seventh, spelling extra innings for the championship final.
After Yorkton went scoreless in their half of the inning, Raymore took to the plate looking to grab the championship.
With a runner on first, a Raymore batter smacked an infield single that was resulted in a close play at first base.
The first-base umpire ruled the runner safe at first in what was a controversial call.
After vehement protest from the Cardinals, the umpire ejected a Yorkton player for comments made in the heat of the moment.
As a result, the Juniors were unable to field a full team which resulted in an automatic forfeit.
The Cardinals were without the minimum number of players due to the substitution of a pinch-runner earlier in the game.
The forfeit on a technicality was an anti-climactic end to what was a very exciting championship game.
Comments were not forthcoming from either side regarding the decision, though the sentiment was that both teams would have preferred to have the game settled on the field.
Despite the ruling, the Cardinals will be heading to Quebec for the Canadian Nationals later in the month.
The Raymore Renegades were awarded the title of 2010 Junior AAA Provincials champions and will be participating in the Western Canadian tournament.
