The Parkland Expos 鈥楢A鈥� midget baseball team went 1-1 this past weekend to move their 2015 record to 2-11-1 through 14 regular season games with a narrow 8-7 loss to the Regina Blue Jays Saturday morning followed by a spectacular 7-4 win over the league鈥檚 second place Regina Pacers.
The win in Game Two moves Parkland two points out of the league basement currently occupied by the Lumsden Cubs (1-10-1) and into a second last place tie with the North Battleford Beavers (2-10-1).
The Humboldt Dodgers continue to lead the 鈥楢A鈥� circuit with a 15-1-1 record while Moose Jaw isn鈥檛 far behind in second place at 14-2. The defending provincial champion Northeast Red Sox are third overall at 11-1 while the Regina Pacers due to their loss to the Expos fall from second to fourth with a 10-4-1 record.
Weyburn is fifth at 10-5, Assiniboia sits in six with a record of 7-5-1 while the Northwest Prairie Pirates are seventh at 7-9. Macklin rounds out the top eight with a 6-7 record while the Regina Blue Jays (5-6), Regina Buffalo (5-7), White Butte Broncos (4-6-1), 麻豆传媒AVey Eagles (3-11-1) and Regina White Sox (3-10) sit from ninth to 13th respectively in the 16-team 鈥楢A鈥� league.
Regina road trip
The 鈥楢A鈥� Expos deserved better in their first game on Saturday morning, falling to the host Regina Blue Jays by the narrowest of margins 8-7.
The Expos struggled in the second inning giving up seven runs, however they chipped away all throughout the game to make it 8-7 heading into the final inning. Unfortunately the umpire crew, after a conference with the coaches of the two clubs, decided that the game had ran too long and called it, snatching away what looked to be an Expos come-from-behind victory.
Fortunately the 鈥楢A鈥� Expos learned from their previous game, coming out strong in their second game 鈥� this one against the Regina Pacers 鈥� by scoring a run in the top half of the first inning.
The Pacers responded in their half of the first, scoring their first run of the game off of Expos starter Jordan Evans to make it 1-1 after one inning.
The game remained tied after a scoreless second inning in which both teams went three up, three down to send it into the third inning where the Expos exploded for five runs to take a 6-1 lead.
The Pacers pushed one run across the plate in their half of the third to make it 6-2, but yet another Expos run in the fourth inning regained the Parkland five run lead, this time at 7-2.
A pair of Regina runs in the bottom of the fifth inning made it a 7-4 game, however that was as close as the Pacers would come as the Expos held on for a 7-4 upset victory. Evans picked up the complete game win throwing all five innings and scattering eight hits while giving up four runs (two earned). He also walked just one batter while striking out four.
Evans also led the Parkland offence against the Pacers going 1-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch and two RBIs while single RBIs were picked up by Grady Hawkins (1-for-3), Luke Walters (1-for-1, walk, hit-by-pitch) and Mitchell Karapita (1-for-3).
Next up
The next action for the midget 鈥楢A鈥� Parkland Expos will be this weekend when they travel to both Macklin and North Battleford for a pair of games in both cities.
