Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened on Sunday evening at Vanstone Diamond.
Sam Gaucher scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning, capping a one-run comeback and giving the Canucks a 13-12 victory in a showdown between the two league leaders.
And to say the contest was a far cry from the 15-3 win for the Canucks in the first meeting between the two teams is a bit of an understatement.
Unlike that game, things were close from the get-go on Sunday. The Canucks built a 6-3 lead through three innings and the Prairie Dogs trailed 9-4 heading into the top of the fifth. And that was where things became very interesting, indeed.
The Prairie Dogs would send 10 batters to the plate, scoring the maximum six runs in the inning to take a 10-9 lead and setting up a frantic finish.
Max Craig and Luke Pratte would cross the plate for the Canucks in the bottom of the fifth, but Drayson Silbernagel and Raiden Molde would reply for the Dogs in the top of the sixth to set up the walk-off finish.
Cruz Schwabe got on base to lead off the Canucks’ half of the sixth and would come around to score the tying run, and moments later Gaucher would cross the plate to bring things to an end.
Pratte would finish with three runs scored for the Canucks while Max Craig reached base four of five times and scored twice. Schwabe and Ramsey Thompson scored two runs each; James Howe reached in all four of his plate appearances and scored one run.
For the Prairie Dogs, Ronan Tonge scored three runs in four trips to the plate while Silbernagel, Taeve Morhart and Burke Bechard all had two runs each. Rhett Benaschuk reached base in all three of his at bats.
The Canucks improved to 12-1 on the season and now sit two wins up on the second-place Prairie Dogs, who were right back in action Monday night and took a 21-13 victory over the Lumsden Bears.
Both teams have three games remaining on their schedule, with the Canucks hosting the Regina White Sox on Tuesday night and the Prairie Dogs doing battle with the Bears again on Wednesday. Both games are at Vanstone Park.
