The Weyburn Beavers outhit their opponents 10-4 on Friday night, but defensive miscues proved costly in an 8–4 loss to the Fort McMurray Giants at Tom Laing Park.
Weyburn committed four errors on the night, two of them charged to catcher Brayden Mayencourt, that helped extend multiple innings for Fort McMurray. The Giants capitalized despite only managing three hits through the first eight innings, making the most of free passes, aggressive baserunning, and timely contact.
“Only gave up four hits. We put up 10 hits. But at the end of the day, we just made too many mistakes defensively, and that kind of came back to bite us,” said Beavers head coach Cam Williams after the game. “We got robbed a few times too… It’s a different ball game if a couple things go our way.”
The Beavers’ offence showed flashes of potential, with Luke Malzewski and Briggham Kokotailo each driving in runs. Kokotailo’s RBI double in the seventh pulled Weyburn closer, but the Giants added insurance in the eighth to keep control.
Fort McMurray's Elijah Cook led the charge with two RBI and scored three times, including after a triple in the sixth. He also stole a base and reached base in all four of his plate appearances. Teammate Darcy Barry added two RBI of his own.
Despite the loss, Weyburn’s pitching was largely effective. Starter Ryan Meyer allowed just two hits over 4 2/3 innings, but was saddled with the loss due to a combination of errors and hit batters. Weyburn pitchers struck out 15 batters on the night, with Meyer recording seven of them. Joe Hart had four punchouts in 1 1/3 innings, Jasiah Menoza three in two innings, and Zach Tanabe one in the ninth.
Fort McMurray reliever Chris Billings earned the win in relief, throwing 2 1/3 innings of one-hit ball with five strikeouts.
The game also saw a rare officiating shuffle, as home plate umpire Elemer Jerkovitz left the game after taking a foul ball to the mask in the sixth inning. Third base umpire Zeke Fehr took over behind the plate for the remainder of the contest. Jerkovitz was reportedly not seriously injured.
Williams said while the final result was frustrating, the team is close to turning the corner.
“We’re right there,” he noted. “We do got to play a little bit better, but I think we take care of some things, and we’re not far off by any means.”
The Beavers now head out on the road for a pair of games against the Medicine Hat Mavericks, a team Williams says is “hitting the ball really well.”
“But we’ve been pitching the ball really well,” he added. “We just got to play a little bit better defence, and I think we’ll be okay.”