The Weyburn Beavers were looking to make it two wins in a row over the Swift Current 57s Thursday night when the teams took to the field at Tom Laing Park Thursday night. Swift Current’s Jose Ayala had different ideas, however. He would finish the game a triple short of the cycle and drove in four runs to help power the 57s to a 9-5 victory, avenging Weyburn’s 8-5 win Tuesday night.
The Beavers would find themselves struggling to cash in runs in the game, with the team as a whole getting walked ten times, but leaving 11 runners on the base paths. While second baseman Brayden Mayencourt and catcher Rob Gurney did pick up doubles, those hits came without any baserunners.
Niko Kekatos was also held hitless for the first time in 10 games, ending his nine-game streak. However, his patience at the plate did result in him getting walked twice, which has extended his streak of reaching base to 13 games. The Toronto native also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning. Other RBIs were picked up by Halen Otte, Ryan Dauphinee, and Tyren Dorrance.
On the mound, starting pitcher Ryan Meyer would go six innings, striking out five and surrendering five earned runs – seven in total. Owen McConnell pitched the sixth, and part of the eighth, allowing two more runs on three hits. Jordan Bauer finished the game, striking out one and allowing one hit in an inning and a third of work.
The Beavers now travel to Medicine Hat for a game Friday night against the Mavericks in Medicine Hat. From there, five members of the Beavers – Kekatos, Otte, Ryan Muizelaar, Ian Heck and McConnell – will travel to Okotoks, along with head coach Cam Williams, for the WCBL All-Star Game Saturday. The Beavers will be back in action on Monday when they head to Saskatoon for a doubleheader against the Berries. Weyburn will be back at home on Tuesday of next week as the Okotoks Dawgs come to town.