After wrapping up the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League regular season with eight games over the last six days, it was looking extremely unlikely that the Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Legacy Twins would squeak into the playoffs.
The Twins split their four weekend games at home after losing 9-3 in Moose Jaw on Thursday.
They had a doubleheader scheduled against the Saskatoon Giants Monday night in Weyburn, but it appeared that it wouldn't be played due to the Giants playing a provincial qualifier that night.
The question was whether the games would be ruled forfeited, which would give the Twins four points in the standings.
Even then, they would have had to beat the Regina Athletics last night to have a chance, with the ninth-place Saskatoon Diamondbacks having two games in hand.
Twins head coach Tom Copeland said he isn't concerned about missing the playoffs, with the provincials July 29-Aug. 1 in Moose Jaw being the priority.
That said, the four weekend games against bottom-dwellars - the Yorkton Cardinals and Regina Angels - were a missed opportunity.
"This weekend should have been a good weekend for everybody to get their confidence up. We blew two games and that's probably going to keep us out of the playoffs. It's too bad," he said.
The Twins lost 8-6 and won 7-3 against the Cardinals on Sunday. The previous day, they defeated the Angels 7-1 and lost 5-3.
"We're starting to show signs. We're not that far off. It generally seems to be one inning that's killing us and it starts with our young pitching staff," Copeland said.
In Sunday's first game, the Twins took a 6-1 lead after two innings but couldn't hold on as starter Mackenzie Lamontagne issued numerous walks.
Yorkton scored two runs in the third inning and tied it with a three-run sixth before scoring two more in the seventh for the come-from-behind win.
But, as Copeland said, "We bounced back okay. We don't normally bounce back, so that was an encouraging sign."
In the second game, Yorkton took a 2-0 lead in the first, but the Twins managed to knot the score after two innings.
The hosts had two more runners cross the plate in the third on a wild throw to third base by the Cardinals.
Yorkton narrowed the lead to 4-3 when they scored on a wild throw to second during the fifth inning, but the Twins responded in the bottom of the inning with two runs on an Austin Orsted RBI single and an error in centre field.
Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast added one more run in the sixth when Josh Ferris ran out a grounder at first base.
Justin Chuckry was the story of the game, throwing a complete game on just 67 pitches.
"You kind of come to expect that from him. He throws strikes," Copeland said of Chuckry's strong outing.
"It's huge in the sense that he needs to do that, he needs to believe in himself and finish his pitches and believe that he can get guys out."
Copeland added that he was impressed with the play of centre fielder Austin Halladay on Sunday.
Aside from catcher Garrett Walbaum, the Twins' veterans were underwhelming on Saturday.
"We should have (won both games against the Angels). It was a case of us taking them for granted. We didn't get a good day from our veteran players at all. They need to be way better than that," he said.
