The Weyburn Beavers would get a complete game Friday night from pitcher Josh Wintroub, while the bats would ensure he had room to work. The effort worked, as the Beavers shut out the Regina Red Sox 7-0 at Tom Laing Park.
As hundreds of school kids packed the park for the annual School Night, Wintroub went to work on the mound, limiting Regina to just three hits all game. Those would be the only three base runners allowed, as he didn’t walk anyone either.
Wintroub would finish up the night with nine strikeouts, throwing exactly 100 pitches in doing so. The shutout also lowered his ERA to 0.65, the second-lowest in the WCBL, and the lowest in the East Division.
“Felt great out there,” Wintroub said after the game. “Had a good defence behind me.”
The seventh inning played a key part in the win and keeping the crowd energized.
After Regina’s starting pitcher, Bryson Sanchez, hit Will Baker, the first batter of the inning, relief pitcher Damon Elarton would proceed to give up a single, then walk two batters, allowing one run to score on a wild pitch.
With the bases loaded, the designated hitter, Nick Baker, stepped up to the plate.
“It felt really good right off the bat, I figured it was out but I thought for sure it was going to go foul, but she said fair,” Baker said of the at-bat. He put the second pitch of the at-bat deep, just a foot inside the foul pole along the left field line. The four-run blast would put Weyburn up 7-0, and that is how the score would hold for the rest of the night.
Baker finished the game with five RBI, having cashed in Nolan Machibroda on a fielder’s choice in the first inning. Koby Kropf also had an RBI in the first inning, when his single to right field cashed in Caelen Dalman.
“Top-down, I think everybody had a good game,” said head coach Dusty Kerns after the game.
The Beavers will now get ready for their first road trip of the season. They will head to Medicine Hat for a pair of games Saturday and Sunday. The Beavers will then be back at Tom Laing Park on Tuesday when they host the Regina Red Sox.