SASKATOON -- With a couple of weeks left in Western Canadian Baseball League season, it’s starting to become a foregone conclusion that the Saskatoon Berries will finish in first place in the league.
The Berries picked up their fourth-straight victory and moved 10 games clear of the Medicine Hat Mavericks atop the East Division with a 9-0 win over the Swift Current 57’s on Thursday night. Other action saw the Medicine Hat Mavericks take a 16-10 win over the Moose Jaw Miller Express, while the Lethbridge Bulls downed the Regina Red Sox 5-4.
Saskatoon 9, Swift Current
It was a good night for the Berries pitching staff, as they held Swift Current to only five hits on the night while picking up the shutout win.
Merek Yeager was a major part of that, putting together his best start of the season as he limited the 57’s to only two hits while striking out eight. Dallen Rude tossed the seventh and eighth and allowed three hits before Adam Beamin struck out the side in the ninth.
Ethan Murdoch and Ethan Menard saw to it that work wouldn’t be for naught, with Menard hitting his 12th home run of the season and knocking in a pair of runs, while Murdoch hit his eighth round tripper and scored twice.
Brodrick Bornstein took the loss for Swift Current, allowing six runs, four earned, on five hits while striking out six and walking two in six innings.
None of the 57’s batters had more than a single hit.
Saskatoon improves 38-7, Swift Current falls to 10-35 and remain two games back of Weyburn for fifth in the East.
Medicine Hat 16, Moose Jaw 10
A low-scoring game through the first four innings turned into an offensive shootout by its end, as the Mavericks scored six in the fifth to take an 8-2 lead before adding a further five runs in the top of the seventh. Moose Jaw scored eight runs of their own over the final four innings but couldn’t mount a comeback.
Aaron Vulcano was a double away from hitting for the cycle for the Mavericks while going 5-for-5 with three runs and four RBI. Adam Vulcano hit a pair of doubles and knocked in two runs, while Jeremy Freeman Jr. crossed the plate three times.
Every member of Medicine Hat’s line-up had at least one hit.
Will Edwards hit his ninth home run of the season for Moose Jaw, while Austin Gurney, Eduardo Saenz and Ben Waliczek each scored two runs.
Danny Retzlaf was the winning pitcher, giving up only two runs on three hits and striking out eight in five innings.
Andres Zarate started for the Express and gave up two runs on five hits in four innings. Nathan Yunick was the losing pitcher after allowing four runs in the fifth.
Medicine Hat improves to 28-17 and are five games ahead of Regina in second, while Moose Jaw falls to 20-26 and are 3 ½ games back of the Red Sox in fourth.
Lethbridge 5, Regina 4
Lethbridge scored a pair of runs in the third before the teams exchanged three runs each in the fifth, giving the Bulls a 5-3 lead heading into the final two innings. Regina got one back in the eighth but could get no closer and dropped the one-run decision.
Jack Kalisky was 2-for-4 with his ninth home run, two runs and three RBI to lead Lethbridge at the plate. Brennan McTavish was 3-for-4 with a run scored, Adonis Bernal also had a pair of hits.
Zayd Brannigan went 2-for-4 with a double, run and two RBI for Regina, Jory Graves was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Maxim Mrakovcic earned the win after allowing three runs on four hits over five innings.
Colton Bank was the losing pitcher, giving up five runs, four earned on 10 hits while going 5 2/3 innings.
Lethbridge improves to 28-16 and are second in the West, Regina drops to 22-21 with their fifth-straight loss.
League action continues Friday night with Regina at Medicine Hat for a doubleheader (5 p.m. and 7 p.m.), Saskatoon at Swift Current (7:05 p.m.) and Moose Jaw at Weyburn (7:05 p.m.)
