ESTEVAN - Baseball diamonds in Estevan were once again brimming with activity on the weekend, thanks to three provincial tournaments that brought 21 teams to the Energy City.
Estevan hosted the Baseball Saskatchewan 18U AA Tier 6, 18U AA Tier 5 and the 13U AA Tier 5 provincial tournaments at Mel Murray Cactus Park and Lynn Prime Park from Friday to Sunday. Nine teams were in the 13U event, and six teams were in each of the 18U divisions.
The Estevan Blazers, comprised of players from Estevan's house league teams, were the host team in 18U Tier 6, going 3-0 and reaching the provincial semifinal, which they lost 8-4 to the Eston Ramblers.
Estevan opened the tournament with a 9-6 victory over the Quad Town Steelers on Friday evening. They added two more victories on Saturday, defeating the Regina Expos 16-7 and the Ramblers 9-7 to finish the round robin with a 3-0 mark. Estevan was tied with the Â鶹ÊÓƵey Eagles for first, but Â鶹ÊÓƵey earned the top seed on a tie-breaker.
"The team came together really well," said coach Dave Lozinski. "They really cheered for each other and stayed positive. Our hitting was actually good throughout the weekend, and our pitching was really good right up to the end."
The biggest challenge was coping with the really good pitching of the other teams. The Blazers' players played together for years in minor ball, so coming together as a team wasn't a problem.
Lozinski believes Estevan ran into a hot pitcher in the semifinal.
"They threw a kid that our boys had trouble hitting off of. That kid, he was as good on his first pitch as he was on pitch 80. He was a very, very good pitcher and that was the difference in the ball game," said Lozinski.
For seven members of the Blazers, it was their final game of minor baseball. Lozinski hopes they will stick with the sport and play the game at the senior or slow-pitch level.
Eston defeated Â鶹ÊÓƵey 16-14 in the final.
The Carnduff Astros were the southeast representative in the 18U Tier 5 tournament. Carnduff knocked off the Wynyard Blues 7-5 in their lone game Friday. Then they knocked off the Gull Lake Greyhounds 19-9 and lost 16-14 to the Yorkton Cardinals Saturday to finish the round robin with a 2-1 record.
Carnduff fell 12-2 to Gull Lake in the semifinal. The Greyhounds defeated the Cardinals 24-13 in the gold-medal game.
In the 13U Tier 5 division, the host Estevan Brewers, also comprised of house league players, went 1-3. They took an 11-1 lead in the second inning of their opening game against the Gravelbourg Lightning, but wound up losing 16-13.
"In the first game, we had a big lead, and then the momentum shifted and we couldn't get it back together to stop the runs from coming in," said coach Tom Holden.
Gravelbourg hit a lot of holes in the Brewers' defence, and Estevan missed a few plays, too, Holden said.
Two more losses followed Saturday, 14-3 against the Biggar Nationals and 17-15 against the Balcarres Broncos. Estevan recovered to defeat the Carrot River Loggers 17-12 on Sunday in their final game of the season.
"It's always nice when you get a win. The kids end the year on a happy note and everybody was in a good mood. They had a lot of fun on the weekend."
Biggar trounced the Prince Albert Royals 12-1 in the final.
"It was a very, very high level of competition," said Holden. "There were teams from all over the province that had a lot of good pitchers, a lot of good defensive plays and a lot of good batters."
Holden was pleased with how the Brewers came together. They put in a lot of hard work at practice and played a few exhibition games.
Both Lozinski and Holden praised everybody who was involved with making the tournaments happen.
"It's a huge event for our community, and it was done very well. Lots of thanks from different teams, so it was just an excellent weekend," said Lozinski
During the tournament's opening ceremonies on Friday afternoon, Estevan Minor Baseball saluted Jen Lozinski for all of her contributions to the sport over the years. Lozinski has served in a variety of roles, has been the registration director and played an instrumental role in organizing all of the provincial tournaments in Estevan this summer.
She threw the ceremonial opening pitch, and a plaque with her name has been added to the minor baseball Wall of Fame.
