The Weyburn Beavers would find themselves up by three heading into the seventh inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Moose Jaw Miller Express, but the visitors would rally back, scoring five in the eighth inning to come away with a 10-7 victory.
The game would see a little bit of everything, from a home run from Moose Jaw first baseman Austin Gurney, the twin brother of Weyburn catcher Robert Gurney, to a balk in the second inning, to a pair of ejections in the fifth inning.
The Miller Express would be the first to get on the board when they cashed in two runs. Weyburn got one of those runs back in the bottom of the third as Ryan Muizelaar reached base on an error, allowing Dallas Cummins to cross home plate.
Weyburn then took the lead in the fourth when a double by Robert Gurney drove in Ian Heck and Ryan Dauphinee.
Then, the drama started to unfold when the Miller Express were batting in the top of the fifth
Moose Jaw shortstop Thomas Soto had hit the ball towards third, where it was scooped up by Muizelaar who fired it over to first base, where Dauphinee had covered the bag. Dauphinee made the catch for the out and then dropped the ball on the transfer.
Base umpire Brendan Boucher called Soto safe, which was not well-received by Dauphinee. He said something to the umpire and was very quickly ejected. Then, Beavers head coach Cam Williams came out of the dugout, and before he was able to plead the case, he was ejected as well.
Home plate umpire Tyler Murphy then came over to calm the situation and discussed things over with Boucher. The call was then reversed, and Soto was ruled out at first base.
“Everyone was pretty stunned, myself included being on the field,” said Beavers starting pitcher Owen McConnell. “Didn’t really know where to go from there; head coach getting ejected for the first time this season, but bounced back well. Luke (Senft), the assistant coach, did a great job to rally the troops, and other than a couple of runs we gave up that inning, I think we played as well as we normally do.”
After all of that, the Miller Express would score two more runs, taking a 4-2 lead.
The ejections would spark the dugout for the Beavers, though. In the bottom of the sixth inning, once the emotions had settled a bit, Ian Heck started with a single to centre. Then Nick Teng, in to replace Dauphinee at second base, was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice hit by Halen Otte would advance both runners, and a sacrifice fly by Robert Gurney would bring in Heck.
A walk for Quentin Smith would lead to a pitching change, with Drew Sorrentino coming on to replace starter Bo Jacob Garza. The new pitcher would be welcomed with a two-run single from Ryan Webster. The next batter, Cummins, would be walked, and then Muizelaar recorded his second RBI of the game, driving in Webster.
“It’s a testament to how these guys feel about their coach, and how they feel about one of their leaders, Ryan Dauphinee,” Senft said of the big inning after the ejections. “I think we did a pretty good job of responding after that, going out and competing to the best of our ability.”
Moose Jaw would get one of the runs back in the seventh inning off relief pitcher Jordan Bauer, but their bats came to life in the eighth. Moose Jaw would score five runs, three of those credited to Mathieu Rocheleau, as they built up a 10-7 lead. They would then hold on for the victory.
The Beavers would record three RBI from Gurney, along with two each from Muizelaar and Webster. Along the basepaths, Cummins and Quentin Smith each had a stolen base. At the plate, Heck would record two hits in the game, although he did reach base four times in his five plate appearances. Two of those bases were due to being hit by a pitch.
On the mound, McConnell went six innings, striking out three and allowing four runs, all earned, on six hits. Bauer had one strike-out while allowing one run in one inning of relief. Rocheleau, who was tagged with the loss, was credited with three earned runs while striking out one in a third of an inning. Ethan Webster would pitch two-thirds of the eighth, allowing two earned runs on three hits. Joe Hart finished the game off, striking out two in one inning.
The Beavers will now look to reset for a big game Wednesday night. The Regina Red Sox make their first trip to Tom Laing Park. This will be the second meeting of the season between the two clubs, with the Beavers winning the first encounter 12-9 in extra innings. The first pitch is at 7:05 p.m.