The third game in one long day of baseball proved too much for the Estevan KPC mosquito A Sluggers last Saturday.
The Sluggers lost 14-3 to the Regina White Sox in them mosquito AAA Regina league tournament at Columbus Park in the Queen City. The loss followed an 11-2 trouncing of the Regina Buffalos, the league's first place team, and a 5-4 win over the Weyburn Beavers in the Sluggers' first of two games in the day-long tournament.
Ryan Siever, coach of the Sluggers, said it looked like the team ran out of gas during the final game of the triple-header. He said the boys started making some errors in the field against the White Sox, which led to runs against, and then couldn't get the timely hits on their end to keep the score close.
“We got three runs at the top of the first inning before we even went out for defence and we were leading 3-1 after the first,” said Siever. “The pitchers were throwing strikes. Mason Fichter started the final and he threw strikes, but we also have to give credit to the White Sox. Their batters went out and hit.”
Siever said the coaches are happy with the Sluggers' play during the tournament, despite the final loss following the confidence-boosting game against the Buffalos. He added they have been struggling with the bat, as of late, and to see that coming around to the tune of 11 runs in one match is a positive.
“The Buffalos, we've had them on the ropes a couple times this year, so it was nice to be able to finish them and win that game against those guys, because they're a good baseball team.”
He said the Sluggers now have to focus on battling through the errors as they head into a tournament in Melville this weekend before playing in provincials in Saskatoon on July 17, 18 and 19.