The Yorkton Midget 'AA' Cardinals were all set for four games this past weekend, however only managed to play three, beating the Moose Jaw Canucks 8-3 in Moose Jaw, before falling to the Northeast Red Sox and Muenster Red Sox at home by scores of 5-3 and 5-0.
Their fourth game of the weekend, which would have actually been their first, was postponed as the Assiniboia Aces could not get enough players together for a game.
Victory in MJ
Tony Black gave the nod to Jordan Bieber on Saturday afternoon against the Moose Jaw Canucks and the talented pitcher made the most of his start, surrendering just three runs (two earned) over 4.2 innings of work.
Bieber (2-0) only allowed seven base runners on five hits and two walks while striking out five Moose Jaw batters before handing the ball over to Caleb Bymak late in the fifth inning.
Bymak shut down the Canuck bats the rest of the way, striking out six of eight batters he faced while allowing just one single for the save.
In addition to registering the save, Bymak (2-for-4, single, triple, four RBI) was also responsible for busting the game wide open for the Cardinals when he drilled a bases clearing triple to the right/centre gap that increased the Cardinals score from 5-3 to 8-3 and killed any hopes of a Moose Jaw comeback. "We had the bases loaded in the top of the seventh and Bymak came up with a big hit for us," offered Cardinals head coach Tony Black. "It was 5-3 at that point and Moose Jaw wasn't giving up at all by any means. We got a couple runners on and Bymak came up with the big key hit scoring three runs for us to break it open."
Home woes
The Cardinals returned home for a pair of games against, arguably, two of the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League's top teams: the Northeast Red Sox and the Muenster Red Sox.
Midget Cardinals ace Tyson Black (1-1) was given the task of shutting down a very talented Northeast team in Game One and he did a good job, surrendering just five runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk over six innings of work while striking out five batters.
Unfortunately Black was saddled with the loss as his team, try as they might, could not put up more than three runs in the 5-3 setback.
Mason Kelley went 2-for-3 in the Game One loss with one RBI while Peyton Perepeluk picked up an RBI as well, going 1-for-3 in the loss.
Despite the Game One loss, head coach Tony Black felt his team performed admirably against one of, if not the best, team in the league. "They're one of the top teams in the league," mentioned Black. "We saw them in the Saskatoon tournament where they gave us a game there and beat us quite badly. But this time the kids battled hard and played well, we lost 5-3 but Tyson pitched six innings and threw well even though he's not 100%."
In Game Two, with Bieber and Tyson Black unable to start on the mound the head coach turned to the third member of the Midget Cardinals 'Killer B's', Caleb Bymak.
Bymak (0-1) took the second loss of the day for the Cardinals in a game where he may not have been at his best, yet still held the Muenster club to just one offensive inning.
Unfortunately for Bymak and the Cards, Muenster's one inning offensive outburst comprised of a walk, a Muenster player reaching base via an error, an RBI single and back-to-back RBI doubles that put the hometown Cardinals in a 4-0 hole after the top of the third.
Bymak bounced back with a strong fourth inning but was chased from the game in the top of the fifth after allowing two Red Sox players to reach base, ending his day on the bump with a respectable line of 4 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K.
Mason Kelley took over on the mound and, after allowing one inherited runner to score, kept the Red Sox off balance for the remainder of the game allowing just one hit and one walk over three innings while striking out two.
Tyson Black and Kelley both led the Cardinals offence in Game Two with a 2-for-3 performance each, while Jake Holinaty (1-for-3, K) and Matt Wilgosh (1-for-3) picked up the other two Cardinals hits in the 5-0 shutout loss, dropping the Cardinals record to 3-3-1 on the season.
But despite being at just .500, Cardinals head coach Tony Black believes that his team will continue to get better as the season progresses. "I'm not disappointed with these kids at all even with our season right now being at .500," suggested Black, continuing, "They know they're going to take some losses when playing good teams but these guys are being really competitive right off the start and I expect them to be near the top of the league this season at the end."
Next up
The Yorkton Midget 'AA' Cardinals will be in action tonight, as they travel down Highway 10 to do battle with their rivals the Melville Millionaires for the third of four meetings this season.
The next home action for the Yorkton Midget 'AA' Cardinals will be this Saturday when they host the visiting Notre Dame Hounds for a twin-bill. First pitch for Game One is set for 1:00pm.
