The Parkland Padres made their way to Estevan this past weekend with one goal in mind: win the SBA (Saskatchewan Baseball Assoc.)Twilite Masters (43-plus) Provincial Championship.
They returned from Estevan successful in their quest, bringing with them the 2015 Twilite Masters title. 鈥淲e knew we were able to win it when we were going there if we played to our potential and if we lost then it would have been a bit of a disappointment,鈥� said Jerome Hemauer, spokesman for the newly crowned Provincial champions, continuing, 鈥淥ur bats were hot right from the start, top to bottom, and our defence and pitching was strong all weekend and we were able to win because of that.鈥�
The Padres opened the tournament up against the host Estevan Drillers in a rematch of their Maxi Provincial 鈥楧鈥� side semi-final game; a game the Padres trailed 11-3 before storming back to win 12-11 in walk-off fashion.
Once again Parkland got the better of Estevan, this time taking the game 7-6 to eliminate the host club from the 鈥楢鈥� side bracket.
The Padres, aided by members of the Assiniboia Aces and Yorkton Orioles, then took on the Eden Valley Senators in the quarterfinals, crushing the Sens 14-0 in a mercy-rule shortened four inning game.
That win moved the Padres into a semi-final game against the Northeast Selects where the bats continued to produce while the pitching and defence were near perfect, handing the Selects a 10-0 defeat.
The final game of the tournament saw the Padres take on the Regina Drifters for the Masters Provincial title; a game that Hemauer said was more important than just winning a Provincial title. 鈥淭hat game was pretty high on our list when we found out they were there,鈥� offered Hemauer, adding the reason was because the Drifters were the team (in name only) that attempted to cheat their way to the Maxi title earlier in the month. 鈥淲e really wanted to beat them because of what happened in Yorkton, so it was definitely a big game for us in more than one way.鈥�
And beat them they did, as the Padres managed to break a 4-4 tie in the top of the sixth to take a 5-4 lead that Regina simply could not battle back from resulting in the Parkland Padres being crowned the 2015 Twilite Masters Provincial champions. 鈥淭his is the third time for some of us and it feels great every time,鈥� said Hemauer. 鈥淚t was a really great weekend and we played really good ball.鈥�
