After a rough start to the night, the Weyburn Beavers settled in and battled back against the Medicine Hat Mavericks. However, a called strike, that most fans at Tom Laing Park thought should have been called a ball, with the bases loaded ended the comeback attempt, as the Mavericks won 6-5.
Medicine Hat had jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, as Jace Wessels looked a little shaky in the first inning. He allowed three hits, walked a batter and hit a batter in that first inning. After that, though, he settled down and proceeded to keep the Mavericks at bay over the remaining five innings of work.
He finished off with five strikeouts while allowing five earned runs on nine hits.
At the plate, Koby Kropf and Brayden Mayencourt were the only two batters credited with RBIs in the loss. Nolan Machibroda chipped in offensively with his 10th double of the season.
The bottom of the ninth inning would see the fans at Tom Laing Park, as well as the Beavers dugout, get loud. Medicine Hat moved their third baseman, Nathaniel Ewing, to the mound for the save attempt. He would walk the first batter he faced, and struck out the second, then a comedy of errors by the Mavericks would see runners get into scoring position.
Nick Baker hit the ball into left field, and three consecutive throwing errors allowed for Kropf to get to third, and Baker to second.
The next batter struck out, and following that, Konner McLellin was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Brayden Mayencourt was walked to bring in a run to make it 6-5, and Will Baker came to the plate with bases loaded.
After fouling off two pitches, a pitch on the inside was called a strike, while the fans thought the pitch had been a little too far inside to actually cross the plate. The out was called, and the game was finished.
The Beavers and Mavericks will meet again Sunday night at Tom Laing Park in Weyburn. After that, the Beavers will head out on the road for the annual Alberta road trip.