At times pitcher's duel, at other times a slugfest, the Saskatoon Cubs and Muenster Red Sox engaged in a battle for Midget AAA supremacy at Lynne Prime Field that will go down as one of the best.
The gold medal game Sunday afternoon pitted the Cubs – 2-1 in the round robin – against the undefeated Red Sox, both teams coming from the same pool. The Red Sox won 13-6 Saturday in the previous game in the tournament between the teams.
Cubs' Zach Dielside hit an RBI single in the top of the third to break the scoreless tie, and Brody Vogel and Jared Binsford each hit RBI doubles to bookend a sacrifice fly by Eric McNeilly to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead.
Muenster scored all their runs in the bottom of the fourth. Drew Bauml and Thomas Bollefor each walked with the bases loaded, and then Brody Frerichs took advantage of an error by the shortstop to reach base safely, while another run crossed the plate. Tyler McWillie's two-RBI double drove in a pair to give the Red Sox a 5-3 lead.
But with the game on the line, the Cubs came back in the top of the seventh with three runs of their own. With two men on, Vogel hit an RBI single and McNeilly drove in two runs with another single to give the Cubs the 7-5 lead.
Despite walking leadoff hitter Morgan Gobeil, Cubs relief pitcher Jordan Frey induced a double play ground out and then another groundout by Rylan Marianchuk to end the game and give the Cubs the win.
The Red Sox had outscored their opponents 33-8 in going 3-0 in the round robin and then added a 7-0 defeat of the Saskatoon Diamondbacks in the semifinal. The Diamondbacks claimed the bronze medal with an 8-6 win over the Regina White Sox.
