The Weyburn Beavers returned from their road trip to the northernmost teams in the WCBL, and entertained the Lethbridge Bulls for a pair of games, with the first game played Sunday, and the follow-up on Monday. The Beavers would hold the lead in both games but would come up short both nights thanks to late rallies by the visitors.
Sunday night, the Beavers had a strong performance on the mound from Luke Zimmer, who went seven innings, striking out four, while allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits. After giving up two runs in the eighth inning, he would be replaced on the mound by Jamin Smith, but the change didn’t stop a six-run rally from the Bulls, as they built up a 7-2 lead. In the process, they chased away Smith, who only pitched a third of an inning, and then Jacob Clark, who pitched a third of an inning as well. Brett Patterson would come in to finish off the inning, and the game.
The Beavers were led at the plate by Ryan Dauphinee, who hit a solo home run in the third inning to tie the game up 1-1. Trent Lawson would give Weyburn the lead in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly to left field that cashed in Triston Madison.
Madison himself would make things close in the bottom half of the eighth inning when he hit a bases-clearing double to make it a 7-5 score. The Beavers though, were unable to get any runners across in the bottom of the ninth.
In the rematch Monday, the Beavers would find themselves up 5-2 after three, and 6-4 after four innings, but then 11 runs in the final three innings of the game lifted the Bulls to a 15-6 victory.
Weyburn got the scoring started in the second inning when Jaxson Davis put a single into left field with the bases loaded that brought home Robert Gurney, Ryan McCarthy and Nolan King. Then, Davis, who stole third base, was able to come home when the catcher overthrew the base, making it 4-0.
The Bulls replied with two runs in the third before Davis would get his 4th RBI of the night when he brought home McCarthy on a fielder’s choice. Weyburn would round out their scoring, after two runs from Lethbridge in the fourth, with Madison bringing home Brayden Mayencourt on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the fourth.
On the mound, Ethan Webster would go five innings, striking out two and allowing four runs on seven hits. Angel Rios, in relief, would strike out three in two innings of work, while allowing two runs, one earned. Joe Hart came in for the eighth innings and gave up two runs while striking out one, and was tagged with the loss.
Three pitchers combined for the Beavers for the ninth inning, with Patterson, Mason Fichter and Deri Steiert-Couture working the inning. Patterson would give up five runs, and Fichter two.
The Beavers will look to shake off the losses Tuesday night as they entertain the Moose Jaw Miller Express at Tom Laing Park. The game starts at 7:05 p.m.