MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- A pair of Moose Jaw teams came a single win away from reaching the gold medal final during the Baseball Sask provincial championships this past weekend.
Both the Moose Jaw Canucks 15U AA Tier II and 11U AA Tier I teams went unbeaten through their respective round robins before eventually falling short in the semifinal.
The Canucks were the host team for the 15U tournament and made good use of their home field advantage, taking wins out of a pair of barnburners in their first two games.
That included an 8-7 victory over the Battlefords Beavers in their opening contest Friday afternoon, followed by an impressive come-from-behind 21-20 win over the Saskatoon Blue Jays in their first game Saturday.
That gave Moose Jaw a chance to guarantee themselves a spot in the semifinal with a win in their final round robin game, and they’d make no mistake, rolling to a 16-4 win over the Saskatoon Black A’s.
Unfortunately for the local crew, they were unable to keep the roll going, dropping a 13-2 decision to the Weyburn Beavers in the semifinal on Sunday morning.
The Beavers would go on to defeat the Blue Jays in the final.
At the 11U tournament in Prince Albert, the Canucks had a close call in their opening game before emerging with a 21-19 win over the Prince Albert Royals on Friday afternoon but had an easier time of it in their next two contests.
That included a 19-8 win over the Kindersley Royals on Saturday morning, followed by a 7-0 win over the Southern Aces to cap their round robin with a 3-0 record.
Like their older counterparts, things didn’t work out in the playoff round, as the Canucks fell 8-2 to the Humboldt Dodgers.
Humboldt would go on to a 16-5 win over the Unity Cardinals in the gold medal contest.
At the Baseball Regina 13U AAA league playoffs, the Canucks also reached the semifinal before being eliminated from the tournament.
Moose Jaw won their opener 15-13 over the Lumsden Cubs and defeated the Yorkton Cardinals 12-6 to reach the playoffs, where they lost 14-1 to the Weyburn Beavers.
Weyburn then defeated the Regina Wolfpack to claim the Baseball Regina title.
