The Weyburn Beavers opened up the 2023 Western Canadian Baseball League Thursday night, with the Regina Red Sox in town. The Beavers were looking to start off the season with a win in front of the home crowd. However, three errors and a rough 8th inning would lead the Red Sox to a 9-1 victory in the first game of the season.
“I think we played okay for the first six innings or so,” said Beavers head coach Cam Williams. “But, you know, I think if we take care of the baseball better it’s a 1-1 game, (starting pitcher Ethan) Webster’s at 75 pitches through seven instead of 110 and you know, it’s a lot different ball game from there.”
Webster had a fairly strong game in his first start for the Beavers, going seven innings, striking out four and allowing three earned runs. In the eighth inning, Brayden Murua came on in relief. He would pitch for 2/3 of the innings, striking out two but also giving up four earned runs and a walk. Mason Fichter came to relieve Murua and would walk four in a row before being replaced by centerfielder Jared Hall. He would close out the game, allowing one hit in 1 1/3 innings of work.
At the plate, the Beavers were led by Triston Madison and Ryan Muizelaar who had two hits each. One of the hits for Muizelaar was a double, and he also had the lone RBI for the Beavers when he drove in Madison with the double.
With this being the opening weekend for the Beavers, not all of the players are in town yet, with more expected to arrive in the coming days. It means they will be a little short-staffed through the weekend, with some stiff competition coming to town as the Moose Jaw Miller Express visit Friday night.
They were the Eastern Champ last year, they were in the WCBL finals against Okotoks and forced it to game three with them, so they’re going to be ready to go,” Williams said of the opposition for Friday’s game. “They’re gonna come out hot and it's their opening day for them, and we know we have the advantage where we’ve played a game already.”
The first pitch in the game Friday night is at 7:05 p.m. at Tom Laing Park.