Weyburn Beavers

The WCBL season opens up in one month, when the Weyburn Beavers host the Regina Red Sox at Tom Laing Park on May 25th. Ahead of the start of the season, the team made the announcement today that they are doing what they can to ensure the games are affordable throughout the season, and they are doing that with some help from a prominent Weyburn organization. 

As the snow continues to melt in Weyburn, many are looking forward to the return of baseball – particularly, the Weyburn Beavers. The Western Canadian Baseball League club will open up the regular season at Tom Laing Park at the end of May.  

For team president Garnet Hansen, the team is getting everything set for what they hope will be a successful year on and off the diamond.  

The Weyburn Beavers will be bringing back their Sports Dinner this spring, and they will be bringing a big name to town for it. Just over a week after the WCBL season starts, the dinner will be held on June 2nd.  

This year, the club will be welcoming former Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons to town for the event. Gibbons was the guest for the last Sports Dinner, which was held virtually in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

In recent weeks, there has been a conversation in Weyburn about what constitutes being a good fan. The discussions started when the news came that the McLeod Series, an annual basketball event between the senior girls' and senior boys’ teams from Weyburn Comprehensive School and Estevan Comprehensive School, had been cancelled. The decision was made due to escalating emotions as well as conduct on and off the court.  

So, what does being a good fan mean? 

The Weyburn Beavers were looking to bring the success from Tuesday night’s win over the Moose Jaw Miller Express into their games against the Fort McMurray Giants Wednesday and Thursday nights at Tom Laing Park. The Beavers, though, would run into some strong pitching from the Giants and would end up dropping both of the games. 

The Weyburn Beavers played host to the Swift Current 57s Thursday night for a doubleheader, making up a game that had been cancelled by the rain back at the beginning of the season. This game was originally scheduled to be played Tuesday night, but field conditions bumped it to Wednesday.  

The Beavers would run into strong defence in both games and be held off the scoreboard, falling 2-0 in the first game of the day, and 7-0 in the second. 

The Weyburn Beavers came out strong Sunday night as they entertained the Moose Jaw Miller Express at Tom Laing Park. They had built up a 6-2 lead by the eighth inning. Then, the Moose Jaw bats came alive, and the visitors rallied to score ten runs over the game's final three innings, picking up a 12-8 victory in 10 innings. 

The Weyburn Beavers were looking to bounce back from their loss Wednesday night as they took the field in Regina against the Red Sox Thursday. The Red Sox would capitalize on a seven-run inning, though, and kept the bats of the Beavers at bay en route to a 12-1 victory. 

Braeden Cordes would be responsible for the lone run for the Beavers, as he hit a double to left field that cashed in Will Baker in the third inning. By that time, though, the damage had already been done as Regina scored seven runs in the second inning of the game.  

The Weyburn Beavers were looking to make it two wins in a row Wednesday night as the Moose Jaw Miller Express came to town. The Miller Express, though, were hoping to keep their winning streak intact. It would be the visitors coming out on top, with a rally in the seventh inning that helped lift them to a 7-1 victory. 

The Weyburn Beavers will be well-represented when the WCBL All-Star game is played on July 23rd in Okotoks. There were seven members of the team named to the East Division squad.  

Leading the way is Nolan Machibroda. He is tied for second in home runs in the league this season, with six. He also leads the league in RBIs with 34. Over the 33 games he has played this season, he is batting .336.