VICTORIA, B.C. -- The Moose Jaw All Stars came oh-so-close to finally finding the win column at the Canadian Little League Championship on Saturday morning.
And if not for one rough inning late in the game, odds are pretty good the Prairie representatives would have come away with the victory against Atlantic’s Sydney Sooners during their fourth contest at the seven-team tournament in Victoria, B.C.
Instead, a five-run inning would give the Sooners a 9-0 lead, and even though the All Stars were able to reply with six in the bottom of the frame, they wouldn’t be able to get any closer and dropped a 10-7 decision.
The early stages of the game were a far cry from Moose Jaw’s previous contests, as Sydney took a 1-0 lead out of the first inning, and that’s where the score remained until the fourth when the Sooners put up three more runs.
Sydney then put the All Stars on the verge of the mercy rule in the fifth, but Moose Jaw would suddenly find their offensive mojo in their half of the inning.
The All Stars would send 11 batters to the plate, putting up their six runs on three hits, three walks and two errors.
Things got going when Ollie Waddington hit a lead-off single, Blake Radford reached on an error and Max Young drew a walk to load the bases with none out. Easton Gray then brought home Moose Jaw’s first run with another walk, setting up the All Stars’ biggest hit of the tournament thus far.
Jordan Scory would send a 2-1 offering over the centrefield fence for a grand slam home run, and just like that, Moose Jaw was back in the hunt.
Beau Beddow scored their other run in the inning, crossing the plate when Larkin Elder reached on an error.
Sydney picked up an insurance run in the top of the sixth to make it a 10-6 game, and Moose Jaw would get the tying run to the plate with one out in their final at bat before seeing the comeback fall just short.
Scory got the start on the mound and allowed five runs on five hits over four innings, striking out six. Waddington closed things out, giving up five runs on five hits over the final two innings.
Stats were unavailable for Sydney.
The loss means the All Stars fall to 0-4 and are eliminated from playoff contention. They’ll face Quebec at 3 p.m. on Sunday before closing out their appearance in Victoria on Monday at 11:30 a.m. against B.C.
The top four teams advance to the semifinals on Wednesday, with the championship game set for 1 p.m. on Thursday.
The Canadian champions will advance to the Little League World Series beginning Aug. 13 in Williamsport, Penn.
