That includes their most recent contest, as the Canucks rolled to an 11-1 victory over the White Butte Broncos on Wednesday night, their second win in as many outings.
Solid hitting, even better pitching and overall team development have been crucial to Moose Jaw’s success and will be even more critical as the games really start to matter — all according to plan for coach Taylor Elder.
“When we started the year we had kids playing in different spots and tried to use them in different situations, but now we’ve kind of learned their strengths and weaknesses and we pretty much have our line-up set,” Elder said of the team’s progression.
“This last month of baseball, the kids more or less know their positions, they know their batting order and we’ll be looking to strengthen that up and getting ready for provincials.”
If things go as well as they did Wednesday, that won’t be a problem.
The Canucks had a two-run home run from Kaison Skeoch as part of an eight-run fifth inning, while Max Craig finished the day with a double and triple as part of a 3-for-4 night that included four runs batted in. Ryan Gibbs and Ramsey Thompson also crossed the plate twice each as Moose Jaw saw contributions from their entire batting order.
Then there’s their pitching staff. Elder has seen impressive improvement in many of his hurlers throughout the campaign and at the 13U AAA age group that’s especially crucial — with strict pitch counts to protect young arms, the more standout gunners you have, the better.
On Wednesday, it was Ryder Hicks’ turn to shine, as he needed only 56 pitches to get through five innings, allowing a single unearned run on three hits and striking out four.
“It’s been nice to see the progression some of the kids have made on the mound. Ryan Gibbs really comes to mind and last night, Ryder threw a gem on the mound,” Elder said. “So these guys who weren’t at the forefront at the start of the year have really pitched themselves into the rotation and that’s been a pleasant surprise.”
That’s all translated into some interesting results. The Canucks recently played the Baseball Regina first-place Yorkton Cardinals in a doubleheader and took a game off them. They’ve also seen their share of success in recent tournaments, even turning in solid results against teams with some of the best records in Saskatchewan.
“So there’s nobody who’s going to throw things at us that we haven’t seen already,” Elder said. “We played against some of the top teams in the province and done well, we just have to work on controlling our emotions and not beating ourselves. That’s the biggest key for us right now.”
The Canucks are back in action on Thursday when they host the Broncos. Game time is 6 p.m. at Andrie Diamond in Parkhill Park.
