The North Battleford Beavers are in the midst of a very difficult stretch in their schedule and Friday night, they met up against the league's only undefeated team.
The Lloydminster Meridian Twins were at Beaver Lions Stadium Friday, which produced a great night for baseball. The Beavers put their 6-2 record on the line with Rylan Rogers on the mound exactly a week after losing in extra inning to Wilkie at Beaver Lions Stadium in an extra inning.
In the first inning, back-to-back-to-back walks loaded the bases. A missed fly ball in left field cleared the bases for the Twins and gave them an early 3-0 lead.
The Beavers couldn't respond in the home half of the first, but were able to hold the Twins off the board in the second.
Matt Benson led off the second with a double and scored on a Ryan Shepherd single. Shepherd later plated when Ryan Mikituk came to the plate and drove him in.
Rogers again shut down the Twins in the third inning. Benson reached base in the bottom of the third on a walk and was later scored by Shepherd again, this time on a sacrifice fly.
The game was tied 3-3 after three innings.
The Twins used some small ball to produce runs in the fourth. A leadoff single by Kelly Hoffer was followed up by two bunt attempts with both players, Jesse Clifford and Stacey Walker, reaching base. Ryley Currie drove in a run on a error, and after a strikeout, Justin Ganger singled to score another run for the Twins. With bases loaded, the Twins fourth batter, Jamie Smithson, took to the plate and hit a pop up foul down the third base side. Benson showed no fear and made the catch as he ran hard into the fence, ending the inning and making the defensive play of the game.
An error and three singles led to two more runs for the Beavers in the fourth inning, as Gary Pauls and Rory Gregoire scored on Bryce Gatzke and Benson singles.
The Twins scored singles in the fifth and sixth while the Beaver answered with just a single in the sixth inning. Rylan Rogers' pinch hit walk led to a run when Gatzke hit a sacrifice fly to left field. The scored was 7-6 heading into the seventh.
Benson replaced Rogers on the mound for the Beavers and gave up two more runs putting the Beavers down 9-6 with one at bat left.
Chance Rogers led off the inning with a single in his first plate appearance of the game. A fly out and two strikeouts by Kevin Payne kept the Twins perfect after nine games.
Warren Stang was the winning pitcher with six innings pitched, three strikeouts, four walks, seven hits and three earned runs. Payne picked up the save after an inning of relief work with two strikeouts and a hit allowed.
Rogers took the loss, as he pitched six innings, had nine strikeouts, gave up five hits, eight walks, one hit batsmen while allowing just one earned run.
Benson was the Beavers' lone batter with two hits, he also walked, scored twice and had an RBI, as he has officially returned from summer school and is back with the Beaver full time.
Gatzke and Shepherd both had two RBI and Mikituk had the other.
The Beavers fall to 6-3 and sit in sixth place while the Twins are 9-0 and in first place.
North Battleford started the season 5-0, but have since lost three of their last four games and their next action doesn't get any easier. The Beavers now have a week off, as their next action is scheduled for July 5 in Lloydminster against the Junior Redhawks, who are in fourth place.
