After a difficult start to the season, the Yorkton Cardinals have begun to turn things around.
With a week highlighted by a four-game winning streak, the Cardinals have put themselves 3.5 games clear of Weyburn for third in the East Division.
With their July 2 game in Saskatoon being rained out, the Cards were forced to play a doubleheader last Saturday against the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets.
The Cardinals prevailed in the first half of the twin-bill, winning 3-1 in seven-innings.
Stephen Johnson (1-1) continued his tremendous start to the season by claiming the shutout victory.
Johnson pitched a complete game, allowing only five hits while striking out eight batters.
The eight strikeouts were a season-high for Johnson, the 6"4 righthander out of St. Edwards University. His previous high was seven, which came in a 1-0 loss to the Melville Millionaires.
Saskatoon's Ken Atwood (2-4) also struck out eight but surrendered three earned runs in the process. Yorkton's offensive output was entirely credited to centerfielder Richard Seaton.
Seaton had three RBI, all of which came after hitting a double in the bottom of the second inning. Thomas McAlpine, Jake Bailey and Bark Steponovich reached homeplate on Seaton's second double of the season.
No rest for the weary, however, as Yorkton took the field immediately after game one to take on the Yellow Jackets again.
Though it was a higher scoring affair, the result was the same.
Yorkton notched an 8-7 win this time, in another seven-inning affair.
Jeff Chase (3-2) had a solid outing to claim his third victory of the season. Chase struck out six while giving up only three earned runs.
Ryan Abraham took the loss for Saskatoon on the strength of a four-run sixth inning by the?Cardinals that put the game out of reach.
David Kaplan was the offensive star of the game, pitching in with four RBI's including two in the critical sixth inning. Cards manager Bill Sobkow says that the key to beating Saskatoon was his club's opportunistic nature.
"We got timely hits... That's why we were very successful there," Sobkow recounts. ?
The doubleheader sweep meant a three-game winning streak for Yorkton heading into back-to-back games with the crosstown rivals, Melville.
The Sunday matchup with the Millionaires wasn't even close.
Yorkton rolled to a 13-2 victory in front of 225 disappointed patrons at Melville's Pirie Field.
The Cardinals jumped on the Mills' right away, racking up a 9-0 lead before the bottom of the second-inning.
Max McDonald (3-1) pitched a strong outing for Yorkton.?McDonald allowed only two earned runs in seven-innings of work, nullifying any hope of a Millionaires comeback.
Sean Ayala (1-2) was the losing pitcher after being roughed up for nine runs (seven of which were earned) in just 1.1 innings.
It was a balanced offensive attack for the Cards that won the day.
Six of the Yorkton batters had at least two hits while leftfielder Jake Bailey registered a team-high three to go along with two RBI's and two runs scored.
The win pushed the Cardinals streak to four games and set up an intriguing rematch Monday night at Jubilee Park. While the Cardinals bats have been on a hot streak of late, there was no way to prepare for the game that Melville's Derek Howell had.
The Millionaires pitcher threw eight innings of two-hit ball without surrendering a walk or run. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, that wasn't the most impressive part. Howell also recorded a phenomenal sixteen strikeouts in the 6-1 Melville victory.
Asked about where this game ranks in terms of his top performances, Howell says it's one of his best (second only to a high school game, where he had nineteen K's).
"It's up there, it's been awhile since I've struck out that many in a game," he recalls.
Regarding whether or not he knew the strikeout total, Howell says he didn't have a clue.
"I had no idea, I?was just throwing. Just trying to pitch," he says. ?
Yorkton's Jordan Herbison (0-3) took the loss after pitching six innings, allowing five earned runs and striking out three.
As Sobkow indicates, in reference to Howell, sometimes you just have to give credit to a great performance.
"Their pitcher, you have to credit him. He wore us out," he points out.
The defeat dropped the Cardinals to 10-12, five games back of the division leading Regina Red Sox.
As Sobkow points out, the starting pitcher, Herbison, may have been left out there too long in the 6-1 loss.
"I?think we were a little bit slow in removing Jordan... We've got the pitching to work in relief, we just maybe didn't quite manage that correctly," he admits.
Though they aren't satisfied with their place in the standings, Sobkow says that the 10-12 record can be looked at in a positive light.
"I think it's a big accomplishment for us to be ten wins and twelve losses after we were five wins and ten losses."?
With a series of winnable games coming up versus Moose Jaw, Medicine Hat and Swift Current, the next week will be an important one to the Cardinals.
By this time next week, "We could easily be .500," Sobkow says. ?
The Cardinals will hope to continue their hot streak with a game on Tuesday versus Moose Jaw.
Pitcher Stuart Pudenz will take the mound for the Cardinals.
Coverage of Tuesday's game will appear in Saturday's News Review Extra.
