The Moose Jaw Ice have seen their impressive season come to an end, but they made sure to leave everything on the field at the Canadian Little League Regional championship in the process.
The Ice dropped a 7-6 decision in an extra inning to host Hampton, B.C. at the tournament in Victoria, capping off a back-and-forth contest that saw both teams look like they had things nearly wrapped up, only to see the opposition rally.
The two teams were tied 3-3 through five innings -- thanks to a run-scoring single by Bryn Montgomery in the bottom of that frame -- when things ramped up even more on the drama meter.
Moose Jaw took the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh and looked to be on the verge of landing in the Canadian final, but Hampton struck hard in the bottom of the inning.
With Ice ace Avery Garthus having cracked the 100-pitch barrier, B.C. started to get to the hard-throwing hurler. A lead-off double and two passed balls led to one run coming home, and three batters later, a single brought home the tying run.
That saw Garthus leave the game with bases loaded and none out, having pitched a gem -- heading into the seventh, she’d allowed three runs on five hits over six innings, striking out nine and walking only two.
That left Avery Funke to attempt to get out of the potential game-ending jam, and she’d touch off a low-key celebration by doing just that -- a bunt that catcher Georgia Fowler fielded and touched home, a strikeout for the second out and another strikeout to send things to extras.
There, Moose Jaw took advantage of the international tiebreaker to bring home Callie Heinrichs with the go-ahead run on a single by Lilly Novak, but that would be the end of the good news on the day.
The B.C. tiebreaker runner promptly stole third and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game 6-6, followed by the second batter of the inning drawing a walk. She’d steal second and go to third on a ground out before scoring on a passed ball to give B.C. the 7-6 win.
Montgomery finished the game with three RBIs, Kendall Menzies and Garthus each crossed the plate twice.
