MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Canucks finished a single win away from reaching the gold medal game at the Baseball Sask 15U AAA Tier II provincial championship during the Aug. 3 weekend in Regina.
The Canucks qualified for the tournament after putting together a 9-19 record in the Sask Premier Baseball League and finishing three games out of a spot in the Tier I provincial championship. That made them the second seed in the Tier II championship, though, behind only the ninth-place Regina Athletics.
The Canucks got off to a tough start to open their round-robin, dropping a 13-9 decision to the East Central Dodgers. They were able to rebound quickly in their second game, though, rolling to a 19-6 win over the Southeast A’s to get right back in contention.
Unfortunately for the local squad, a 10-6 loss to the Athletics in their first game Saturday meant they’d need a lot of help the rest of the way to have a chance at finishing in the top two and advancing to the gold medal game. Wins by Swift Current and East Central in the two games following that loss were the exact opposite of what they needed, though, and Moose Jaw had been eliminated heading into their final preliminary round game.
The Canucks still went out in style in their final contest of the campaign, rolling to a 25-3 win over gold medal game-bound Swift Current.
Both the Dodgers and 57’s finished with 3-1 records to land in the championship final, with East Central taking a 10-6 win on Sunday afternoon to claim the provincial title.
At the 13U AAA Tier I championship in Regina, the Moose Jaw Canucks went into the event as one of the pre-tournament medal favourites but were unable to advance out of their round robin pool.
The Canucks had put together a solid season in the Baseball Regina RBI 13U AAA league, finishing with 13-6-2 record and landing in second place, a mere two points back of the Swift Current 57’s.
It was a tough start at provincials, though, as Moose Jaw fell 12-6 to the Regina White Sox on Friday night and then dropped a 19-8 decision to the Saskatoon Cardinals in their first game Saturday, falling from provincial title contention.
The Canucks managed to go out on a high note, though, taking a 12-8 win over the Yorkton Cardinals to cap provincials with a 1-2 record.
The White Sox -- fourth-place finishers in the regular season in the Baseball Regina league -- took a 12-1 win over Swift Current in one semifinal, while the Saskatoon Cardinals upset the Saskatoon Blue Jays in the other.
The Cardinals then went on to win provincials with a 19-14 win over the Regina Red Sox.
Check out www.baseballsask.ca for scores from all the provincial championships over the last month.
