It was a string of losses this week for Yorkton’s Western Major Baseball League team, the Yorkton Cardinals.
The week started on a bad note with the first game against the Okotoks Dawgs at Jubilee Park on July 18. The first inning saw the Dawgs get three runs to the Cardinals’ one. The next inning saw Okotoks increase their lead by an additional three, and while that was the end of their scoring, it was enough to hold on to the win, though the Cardinals began to close the gap with one run in the third and two in the fourth. Taking the loss for the Cardinals was Tyson Black.
Things looked up in the next game against the Dawgs the next night, with the Cardinals opening the game with four runs in the first inning. The Dawgs quickly answered with five in the second, two in the third, one in the fifth, and three in both the eighth and ninth. The Cardinals, meanwhile, only scored once more, in the seventh, which meant a final score of 15-5. Bryson Spagnuolo took the loss for the Cardinals.
It was a much closer decision against the visiting Fort McMurray Giants on July 20, with the game going five extra innings before two runs in the 14th sealed the Cardinals’ fate.
Yorkton was the first on the board in the second, but the rest of the game saw the Cardinals and Giants matching each other. Both teams put a pair of runs on the board in the fourth, while the Giants tied the score in the fifth. The sixth inning saw the Giants pull ahead, with three runs to the Cardinals’ two, but the Cardinals quickly tied it up the next with a run in the eighth. After both teams scored a pair in the ninth, there was no scoring at all for five innings, when the Giants ended the game. The final score was 11-9. Tyson Black got the loss.
Rain and hail meant that the Cardinals’ Friday match against the Giants had to be postponed to noon on Saturday. Yorkton was the first on the board in the third, but the Giants’ four runs in the fifth settled things, and an additional run in the sixth lead to the final score of 5-1 in the shortened, seven inning game.
The second game of the day was against the Weyburn Beavers, and it was also the second loss of the game. All of the scoring happened in the fourth, with the Beavers getting three runs to the Cardinals’ two. Tyler McDonald got the loss for the Cardinals.
The final game of the week saw Yorkton travel to Moose Jaw to take on the Miller Express on Sunday. The first inning saw Yorkton get four runs to Moose Jaw’s one. The Miller Express answered in the third with four of their own. Moose Jaw kept answering, with two runs to the Cardinals’ one in the sixth, followed by five in the seventh and three more in the eighth. The Cardinals, on the other hand, only managed one in the eighth, and the final score was 15-6 in favor of Moose Jaw. Zackary Sharp took the loss for the Cardinals.
Next action for the Cardinals will be in Swift Current tonight, while the next home game will be on Friday, July 28 when they host the Weyburn Beavers.
