The WMBL Yorkton Cardinals are working on putting more notches in the win column. The past week saw the team rack up several wins over their games, developing into a four-game streak.
The team's streak began on Wednesday, June 29 when they split a double header with the Weyburn Beavers. The first game was the loss, with Yorkton falling 4-2 to the Beavers.Yorkton lead 2-1 after three innings, but three Weyburn runs in the sixth ensured the Beavers' win. Yorkton's runs came courtesy of Zachary Bott and James Green, while the Beavers' Nicholas Iacovella, Chad Livingston, Derek Wallace and Mark Darlington brought home their four runs.
Yorkton pitcher Luis Lora was tagged with the loss, giving up seven hits and four runs in five innings of play.
The Cards immediately bounced back for the next game, beating the Beavers 5-3. Two runs in the first and three in the sixth secured Yorkton's victory. Johnathan Rodriguez, Nicholas Iacovella and Derek Wallace scored for Weyburn. The Cardinals' James Green brought home two runs, while Zachary Bott, Mark Ellis, and Jon Mihic rounded out the scoring.
Robert Rivers got the win, giving up one hit and one run in two innings.
The next day saw the Cards take on the Melville Millionaires. Yorkton opened well, with a James Green run in the first, but allowed runs from Millionaires Matt Helms and Ryan Taylor in the third. That was the last scoring action the Mils would see.
A run from Jake Bailey tied the game in the fourth, but it was nearer to the end that saw the Cards rack up the points. Two runs in the seventh and the eighth by Mark Ellis, Henry Cartagena, Luis Sanchez and Jon Mihic secured Yorkton's lead and the win, with the final score being 6-2.
Sean Gavin got the win, allowing five hits and two runs for seven innings of play.
Saturday saw the Cards on the road, as they took on the Moose Jaw Miller Express. It was a low scoring affair, with the lone run being scored by Cardinal Mark Ellis in the sixth. The 1-0 victory extended the Cardinal's winning streak to three games.
N.D. Gonzalez was tagged with the win, allowing five hits in nine innings.
The streak continued when the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets came to town on July 4. Saskatoon opened the scoring early with runs from Zak Chuvala, Alex Bonczyk and Ty Lain in the first inning. The Cardinals responded with two runs in the first, from James Green and Kevin McLeod.
The second inning saw a run each for Yorkton and Saskatoon, with Zak Chuvala rounding the plate for the Yellow Jackets and Zachary Bott doing the same for the Cardinals.
In the third, Jon Mihic made it home to tie the game, and the Cards secured the lead in the seventh when Luis Sanchez crossed the plate.
While he had a shaky start, Cards pitcher Trevor Daggon was tagged with the win, allowing 9 hits and 4 runs in 8 innings of play.
The winning streak was broken when the Regina Red Sox were in town, and won 4-0. Some costly errors in the third inning allowed Regina to get two runs from Chris Untereiner and Joshua Young. The Red Sox strengthened their lead in the eighth and ninth, with runs from Mitch MacDonald and Joshua Young.
Yorkton pitcher Yesniel Henriquez was tagged with the loss, allowing three runs off of six hits.
Coach Bill Sobkow says that the problem in the last game came down to hitting, or a lack thereof. He notes that the two best hitters were on the bench for the game, and that there weren't enough hits from the rest of the squad.
"You can't win a ball game if you hit only two or three times, you've got to get more safe hits than that," he says.
One area where he saw both teams doing very well was pitching, and he says both Henriquez and Red Sox pitcher John Touchton put in excellent games.
Sobkow says that the team needs to step up and get some more hits in order to keep on the winning side. In the next few games, he says that the team is going to put out its best lineup and try to get a record similar to the past five games.
Sobkow would like to thank the community for supporting the team and he's pleased to see some good crowds at recent games.
The Cardinals are on the road for the next few nights, going to Saskatoon and Edmonton. Their next action at home will be on July 11 against the Moose Jaw Miller Express.
