It looked like the game was over.
Leading 6-0, it seemed as if the host Melville Millionaires had the Yorkton Midget 'AA' Cardinals right where they wanted them heading into the sixth inning at Melville's Pirie Field on Tuesday, May 13.
However someone forgot to tell the Cardinals they were finished, as the never-say-die Midget club stormed back, scoring six runs of their own in the top of the sixth to shellshock the Mils and earn a hard fought 6-6 tie.
Cardinals relief pitcher Tyson Black (3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) made sure that the Cards secured the draw, as he simply tore through the Mils line up after coming into the game in relief of starter Caleb Bymak (3.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 6 K), striking out eight of 11 batters he faced on the night.
"Tyson did a really nice job coming into the game and completely shutting them down," offered Midget Cardinals coach Stefan Bymak immediately following the game. "He's throwing really well and I just expect more of that from him this year."
But while Black's performance was stellar, Caleb Bymak, who started the game, struggled at times, walking four Mils batters in just under four innings of work, but did manage to help his team out offensively by driving in one of Yorkton's six runs in the game with a single in the sixth.
Five other Cards picked up an RBI in the tie as wel;, including Black, Peyton Perepeluk, Luke Walters, Jordan Bieber and Dylan Bourget while Black had the best performance of all Cards at the plate going 2-for-3 with a single, a double and a walk in four plate appearances.
Patience was also a virtue for the young Cardinals club throughout the game. The Cards reached base eight times via the walk, something that had a direct impact on their six run outburst in the sixth and something that coach Stefan Bymak noted was a key part in the comeback. "When you're down by six runs you need base runners," mentioned coach Bymak. "It was good to see the guys not getting over anxious but just being patient and getting on base."
Wyonzek ejected
Tannum Wyonzek was thrown out of the game by the umpire in the top of the second after the Cardinals centrefielder hit a pop fly to the first base side before colliding hard with the Mils first baseman.
The thunderous collision prompted the umpire to toss Wyonzek from the game, despite an argument from the Cardinals bench that the contact was incidental, as both Wyonzek and the Mils first baseman were looking at the ball at the time of the collision. "I popped one up right in front of first base and I was running, looking at the ball, looking at him, looking at the ball and we kind of had a deer in the headlights moment," mentioned Wyonzek following his first ever ejection. "I didn't think that he was going to come out into the base path so I just kept running my straight line to the base and we collided and I got kicked out which was unfortunate."
"It was an unfortunate situation," echoed Wyonzek's coach, Stefan Bymak. "Obviously the fielder was playing the ball while moving towards him and it was a very hard collision. But it was clearly incidental contact so we argued that it was incidental and he should just be called out but instead he was kicked out."
Luckily in Midget 'AA' baseball a play such as that does not carry the added weight of a suspension and Wyonzek will be able to play in the Yorkton Midget 'AA' Cardinals next game.
Next action
The next action for the Yorkton Midget 'AA' Cardinals will be tonight as they host the Melville Millionaires. First pitch is set for 7:00p.m. at Jubilee Park in Yorkton.
