As in 20 runs offensive.
The All-Stars cranked out 14 hits and took advantage of 10 North Regina walks to take a 20-10 mercy-rule victory and earn a spot in ‘A-B’ final on Tuesday at Gamble Diamond. North Regina drops down to the ‘B’ final Monday against Regina Kiwanis, with the winner of that game having to beat Moose Jaw twice to claim the provincial title.
“If we’re hitting the baseball like we are and having good sessions on the mound and pitching well, we’re definitely a tough team to beat,” said All-Stars head coach Tony Dreger. “ You have to hit a lot of balls in holes to beat us. So if we can continue doing what we did last night and doing the little things right, that’s going to get us the win on Tuesday.”
Sunday night’s contest brought a measure of revenge for the host team, as they had fallen 11-6 to North Regina to close out the round robin on Friday. The theme of that contest was ‘everything that could go wrong did go wrong’, with Moose Jaw eagerly anticipating a rematch.
Things were interesting in the early going, with both teams breaking out the big bats – Moose Jaw took a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the second, only to see Regina put up seven runs of their own. Thing is, the All-Stars never stopped hitting – scoring another four runs in the third and throwing up a nine-spot while sending 13 batters to the plate in the fourth.
“We gave some runs back in that next inning, but that’s just Little League baseball at this age,” Dreger said. “You have to manage those highs and lows and I think the boys really did that by coming back and getting three in the very next at-bat.
“Those are the little things that are really good, it’s what we’re trying to teach our boys and they’re really listening. We just battled our way through, it was a really positive win and I think the kids are really excited about being in the final Tuesday and we’ll see who we play tonight.”
North Regina avoided the mercy rule with three runs in their half of the fourth, but a single run in the fifth restored the 10-run lead and three outs later, the All-Stars were off to the final.
As could be expected with so many runs, Moose Jaw was littered with offensive standouts. Nathan Pisio finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, Noah Thul crossed the plate four times in five trips to the plate, Cooper Gregor knocked in three runs while Javin Boynton and Trehvan McMorris each scored three runs.
The All-Stars coaches were once again careful with their pitching staff, sending Boynton, McMorris, Gregor and Max Simmons to the mound, keeping all under the 35-pitch threshold and available for the final.
Having so many arms to draw from has been a key to the All-Stars' success all season, both during the provincial tournament and with the AAA Miller Express through the regular season. Given the nature of provincials and the number of games, the team that comes away with the title is going to have earned it.
“I think that’s why Saskatchewan Little League put this tournament schedule together,” Dreger said. “So whoever advances to Canadians will have to have some depth, especially in pitching, it can’t just be a fluke with one win out of nowhere.”
The tournament champion will advance to the Canadian Little League Championship Aug. 1-10 in Ancaster, Ont., with the national champion representing Canada at the legendary Little League World Series Aug. 15-25 in Williamsport, Penn.
