It would be easy for the Moose Jaw All Stars to be discouraged after their opening game at the Canadian Little League Championship.
Losing by double digits in your first contest of any tournament will do that to a team.
But they don’t have to look very far to see what can happen with a quick refocus and a sharper performance in their next outing.
The Prairie representative All Stars dropped a 14-0 decision to Quebec’s Mirabel Academy to open the seven-team tournament in Regina on Wednesday morning, marking the second year in a row a Moose Jaw team has taken a tough loss in their opener.
And for an idea of how things can change quickly in Little League baseball, just look at how that 2022 All Stars would do -- after losing 15-5 to B.C. in their opener, Moose Jaw would string together five straight victories to finish second in the round robin, win their semifinal and eventually drop a 9-4 decision to B.C. in the championship final.
Things were okay for the All Stars in the first inning Wednesday, as despite seeing Quebec get a runner into scoring position, Moose Jaw would escape the frame unscathed.
A two-run double in the second inning led to Mirabel taking a 2-0 edge, and despite Moose Jaw loading the bases with one out, a fielder’s choice and strikeout would lead to Quebec escaping without any damage.
Mirabel took control from there.
Quebec sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs in the third to go ahead 8-0, and a home run keyed another six-run inning in the fourth, giving the Academy the 14-run lead and a mercy-rule win.
Riley Nielsen had Moose Jaw’s only hit in the game, a single in the bottom of the fourth inning. The All Stars did load the bases again that inning, but Quebec would escape with a strikeout for the final out of the game and the mercy-rule win.
While the All Stars had only two errors in the game, they were costly, leading to seven unearned runs for Quebec.
Cruz Schwabe got the start and allowed two runs, none earned over 1 ⅔ innings of work. Taylor Usher finished off the second inning and got the first two outs in the third, with only one of his six runs allowed earned. He also walked four and allowed a pair of hits before giving way to Keith Perry, who got the last out of the third but would allow four runs on three hits in the fourth inning. Tucker Knoop picked up the final out in that inning, but allowed a pair of runs on three hits and two walks.
The All Stars were originally slated to open the tournament on Tuesday against Ontario, but that contest was rained out and will now be played on Tuesday, Aug. 8 at a time to be determined.
Moose Jaw had Thursday as their off day and are back on the field against Alberta Calgary West at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The round robin continues Saturday against Atlantic Sydney District (10:30 a.m.), Sunday against B.C. Little Mountain (10:30 a.m.) and Monday against North Regina (2 p.m.) before wrapping things up against Ontario.
The top four teams from the round robin advance to the semifinals on Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., with the gold medal game set for Thursday, Aug. 10 at 12 p.m.
All games are at the North Regina Little League K2 Diamond, located at 750 Pasqua St. (Levan and 4th Ave.) in Regina.
