The R. Miller Yorkton Midget AAA Cardinals can lay claim to being the first of the highest age group local baseball teams to play both games of a doubleheader and not have any rain delays or cancellations.
Following the games, they can also lay claim to being the first of Yorkton's older squads to play two games and win them both.
Yorkton played the Â鶹ÊÓƵeast Eagles in a Saturday afternoon matchups and won the second game when the bats started clicking in the bottom of the seventh and final inning, of all times, when AAA rookie Murry Polegi started what turned out to be the game tying and game-winning scores.
Â鶹ÊÓƵeast led by one run with time running out but Yorkton rallied to tie it and win it moments later thanks to a string of very timely hitting.
"We got lucky at the end there," noted Cliff Leshchyshyn, Cardinals assistant coach. "They (Â鶹ÊÓƵeast) are a pretty good team."
He also added that it was very impressive to see a kid playing out there with no previous AAA experience, not only drive in some key offence, but do it in the most timely possible fashion-in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and nobody on base.
Polegi's hit and run resulted in a 2-1 Yorkton come-from-behind win, their second of the day, noted Leshchyshyn
"He's the one guys who hasn't played AAA to date," Polegi's coach said. "He's a strong kid and has made some great improvements."
Leshchyshyn also added that in nine games so far, he's shown he can come through in those "clutch situations".
Leshchyshyn added that although the team's pitching has turned out to be incredibly strong through the nine games they've played so far, the team's offence is not quite there yet.
He added that there are four go-to guys in the line up that can go on the mound at any given time and another six who have the capability and versatility to play there too.
That is a huge advantage for Yorkton, he said, and it could come in very handy down the stretch of the already short season.
Leshchyshyn noted that the team experience is one of their strongest assets this year as most of the players either know each other or have played together at the Midget or Bantam levels. Leshchyshyn said that is one of the reason why this year's AAA squad is expected to have a very strong season this year.
"Whoever plays against us is going to need to bring their 'A' game," Leshchyshyn warned.
Despite a record at this point which sees them playing well above .500, the Cardinals have been hurting when it comes to practicing, he says. Rain has already cancelled a handful of games so far at almost every level, and he expressed some concern over not being able to hold warm ups due to inclement weather.
"They can all play well but we haven't been playing that much because of all the rain."He mentioned that the team so far shows enough work ethic, skill, determination and bonding with each other that if all goes well, the Midget AAAs could finish with another strong season.
Brett Kobylka and Jayden Shwaga, says Leshchyshyn are two of the players he's expecting to be strong in their respective positions, offence and defence.
"(Jayden) runs down everything," Leshchyshyn pointed out. "He's a monster in the centrefield."
Among Yorkton's goals this season are to compete for a provincial title, says Leshchyshyn.
"We expect to win this thing this year."
