The Weyburn Beavers found themselves down by four runs when they came up to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning Tuesday night against the Swift Current 57s. Some timely hits, though, would turn the tide. Niko Kekatos and Halen Otte would both go yard in the 7th inning, with Kekatos’ being a two-run no-doubter to left field and Otte’s a towering blast to right-centre, as the Beavers would rally to overcome the deficit and go on to an 8-5 victory.
“Two of our all-stars coming in clutch there,” said Beavers head coach Cam Williams after the game. “I think the one other thing is it really got the crown involved there too, right? We were kind of a little sleepy the first half and the town of Weyburn really kind of came out for us, and it was really good to see the energy was really positive and the guys really fed off of it.”
Kekatos finished the game with a double and a home run, extending his hitting streak to nine games. Over that stretch, he now has two home runs, while hitting .485, with a slugging percentage of .771 and an on-base percentage of .512.
“I'm just trying to simplify stuff, not get too complicated, looking for pitcher's tendencies throughout the game, whether it's like he's feeling his curveball a lot more or he's throwing his fastball a lot more,” Kekatos said of his approach during the stretch.
Kekatos and Otte weren’t the only players to drive in runs. Robert Gurney hit a double off the fence that ricocheted into the left field corner, allowing three runs to cross the plate in the sixth inning, helping to erase the lead. Ryan Webster also doubled in the win.
On the mound, Ian Heck went five innings in the start, surrendering four runs while striking out six. Ethan Webster pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief, striking out two and allowing one run. Then, Devin Costa came on, striking out three of the five batters he faced over 1 1/3 innings. Tanner Coddington would pitch the ninth innings, striking out two to pick up the save.
The Beavers will be back in action Thursday night as the 57s are back in Weyburn.