The Moose Jaw 15U AAA Canucks just keep finding ways to win in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League action.
And it’s safe to say that with the way things have gone for the local squad this season, they’re just about as hot as the weather was during their doubleheader with the Yorkton Cardinals on Saturday afternoon.
The Canucks overcame a 5-1 deficit and would go on to take a 10-5 victory in Game 1 before rallying late in an extra inning 8-7 win in Game 2 at Blackwell Diamond.
Moose Jaw has had a few close calls as of late, but as the old saying goes, good teams find a way to win no matter what the score -- and as a result, the Canucks are still undefeated in SPBL action with a perfect 12-0 record.
“It’s good to see a challenge and it’s good to see them get pushed and have to kind of come back on some teams here,” said Canucks head coach Dan Morari. “The more tests like this we can face this year is going to serve well for us.”
The opening game of the day saw the Canucks score six runs in the bottom of the third and never look back on their way to the comfortable win.
The rematch was far more dramatic. Yorkton took a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth, but the Canucks tied things up in the bottom of the frame. The Cardinals then took a 7-6 lead in the extra inning, but wouldn’t even manage to get an out before both tiebreaker runners scored to give Moose Jaw the win in the bottom of the frame.
Seeing this crew perform as well as they have shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to local baseball fans -- after all, the core of the team is the same bunch that played in the Canadian Little League Championship back in 2019
“I think experience plays a big part with these guys, they’ve all played together for a long time and it’s a really talented and eager group of kids,” Morari said. “They’re ready to put the work in and support each other on the field, then our hitting has been good, our pitching has been good and defence has been there as well.”
Even with how well things have gone, it would take the highest level of optimism to expect a perfect record this deep into the SPBL season -- but that isn’t keeping Morari from hoping for an even longer winning streak down the road.
“I had and continue to have high hopes for this team, but if you told me we were going to be 12-0 at this point I’d have probably done a double-take,” he said. “I don’t think anybody was expecting that, but at the same time, I’m not surprised how they’ve done.”
The key now will be to keep the roll going. Teams are now plenty aware of what the Canucks bring to the table, and that means things will only get tougher as the season progresses.
“These guys have the bullseye on their back now,” Morari said. “We have seen teams’ best pitchers and we’ll continue to do so, so the tough work is in front of us so we have to keep them focussed and hungry and ready game by game.”
Next home action for the Canucks is Saturday, June 25 when they host the Parkland Expos for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. at Blackwell Diamond.
