The Yorkton Cardinals experienced the exhilarating highs of victory and the crushing lows of defeat in back-to-back home games on Sunday and Monday.
The Cardinals defeated the Melville Millionaires on June 17 before falling to the Swift Current 57s in dominating fashion on Jun. 18 at Jubilee Park.
Yorkton walked into their Sunday game against Melville with a psychological advantage, having bested the rival team on their home turf earlier in the week.
The Cardinals set the tone when Thirus Jones scored a run in the first inning. Melville responded with a run of their own in the second.
The Cardinals roared back in the third inning, as Griffey Halle and Clyde Yeh both scored runs.
The Cardinals solidified their lead in the fifth inning when Ryne Niemi made it back to home base.
Melville tried to mount a comeback in the ninth inning by scoring a run, but it was too little, too late. The Cardinals won the game 4-2.
“We’re starting to play better baseball,” said assistant coach Brady Hohl.
Yorkton wasn’t so lucky on June 18 when they squared off against the Swift Current 57s.
The overwhelming 57s led the pace of the game for the full nine innings, socring run after run. The Cardinals struggled to keep up, only managing to snag one run. The 57s walked away with a 12-1 victory over the home team.
“We’ve got to attack more early on,” Hohl said. “Our team’s built around offense.
“We’ll get there.”
Road Games
The Cardinals played two games outside of Yorkton last week. They decimated Melville on Jun. 12, earning their most impressive victory of the season.
The Cardinals scored six runs in the second inning and never looked back. Melville tried to rally with runs in the second and the ninth, but the Cardinals held onto their mammoth lead, winning the game 15-2.
They weren’t so dominating when they met the undefeated Weyburn Beavers in a nail-biter on June 15.
The first four innings were relatively quiet as neither team could get on the board. Everything changed in the fifth when Yorkton and Weyburn each scored runs.
The Cardinals maintained their momentum in the sixth inning, scoring two runs to the Beavers’ one.
Unfortunately, the game fell apart for the team in the ninth, as the Beavers snagged two runs while the Cardinals couldn’t respond in kind. The Weyburn Beavers won 4-3.
The Cardinals faced the 57s again on Tuesday night. While the 57s kicked off the game with a significant lead, with one run in the second inning and three in the third, the Cardinals quickly bounced back, immediately getting three runs in the fourth and an additional two in the fifth. At the end of the evening, the Cardinals were on top, 8-6, getting revenge against the 57s.
Up Next
The Cardinals will face the Regina Red Sox at Jubilee Park on Thursday, June 21.
