WINNIPEG - The Estevan U18 AA Brewers have capped a dream season by winning the Western Canada Baseball championship.
Estevan defeated the host St. James A's 6-2 Sunday afternoon in Winnipeg to win the title. The Brewers went 5-0 at Westerns and allowed just six runs in those five games.
"It was just a good all-around effort on the bats and on the defensive side of the ball this weekend," said assistant coach Jeff Kuchinka. "The boys showed up and did everything that they needed to do."
St. James opened the scoring in the final, but Estevan tied the game with one run in the bottom of the third on a double by Jacob Mayer. Then they broke the contest open with five in the fourth. Tayson Dietze had the big blow in the frame with a single that scored three runs.
Sutter Baily was dominant on the mound for Estevan, as he allowed two unearned runs in six innings while striking out five. Mathias Fornwald came on in relief in the seventh and didn't allow a run.
Estevan opened Westerns on Friday by defeating Manitoba's Bonivital Black Sox 3-0 and B.C.'s Vancouver Mounties 3-1. In the latter game, the Brewers limited the Mounties to just one hit.
The Brewers then knocked off Alberta's Webber Wildcats CD Classic 6-0 on Saturday and the A's 7-3 Sunday morning to clinch top spot in the round robin and advance to the final.
"Our confidence was pretty high this weekend," said Kuchinka. "The boys came in and they were playing loose and they were playing for fun."
All of the games at Westerns were really close, he said. Kuchinka doesn't believe the mercy rule was needed during the tournament and Estevan was lucky to go 5-0.
The Brewers went a combined 34-4 this year. Estevan had the best record in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League (SPBL) during the regular season at 24-4, then went 5-0 at provincials to capture the Saskatchewan event, and went 5-0 again at westerns.
Estevan won their last 19 games in league, provincial and Western Canada play.
"We had a little inkling at the start of the year that we were going to have a pretty good team, but I would be lying if I said I thought they were going to be this good."
The Brewers picked up two players from the Battlefords Beavers – the team they defeated in the provincial final – in pitcher Caleb Hoiseth and catcher Hudson Ford. Hoyseth was named the top pitcher in the SPBL U18 AA league this year and gave the Brewers additional pitching depth for Westerns.
As for Ford, his acquisition came in handy after the Brewers' No. 1 catcher, Jayden Kuchinka, suffered a shoulder injury after provincials. The coach said Ford created a good tandem with Jaxon Kuchinka during Westerns.
Coach Kuchinka said the two additions fit in great.
"It took them about 20 minutes of practice the night before we left to go to Winnipeg last week, and it was like they had been there the whole year," said Kuchinka.
The tournament marked the end of minor baseball for five of the 13 players who were with the Brewers throughout the year: Fornwald, Dietze, Baily, Mayer and Jayden Kuchinka.
"You never want to see the final game for your graduating players, but if there has to be one, then there's not much better way to do it than winning a Western Canadian baseball championship. I can't say enough about those players," said Jeff Kuchinka.
Every single player who was there throughout the year contributed to this season's championships, he said. Without them, he believes they wouldn't have had these accomplishments.
Eight players are eligible to return next year.
This is the third Western Canadian title for an Estevan baseball team. The Brewers join the 2008 Estevan U18 AAA Blazers and the 2022 Estevan U13 AA Brewers in the exclusive club.
