After a rough morning, the Moose Jaw Canucks made up for in the afternoon, but it just wasn’t enough.
The Canucks finished with a 1-1 record at the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League AA Division Consolation Championship. Six teams from around the province came to Ross Wells Park on Sunday to battle for the consolation prize while the top eight teams in the standings competed in Melville.
Although they didn’t make it to the final — Bethune Bucs and Lumsden Cubs played — the Canucks could have been there if things had fallen into place in their morning game.
The Cubs defeated the Canucks 9-1 in first game after mental mistakes late allowed the Cubs to blow the game open.
“It was just one of those early morning games where the kids weren’t into it, their heads weren’t into it and they were half asleep,” said Mark Mann, head coach of the Canucks.
Chris Mann pitched five innings, allowing five runs on six hits and striking out 10 batters. Andrew Hill came into to pitch the sixth and seventh innings and was dinged for four runs on seven hits. Chase Griffin was the lone Canuck to score in the fifth inning.
“It was just the little things…fly ball in the infield and the third baseman, shortstop and the pitcher let it drop between them,” said Mann. “If we won that game this morning, things might have been different.”
For the first time this season, the Canucks faced the Kipling Royals and used a six-run sixth inning to cruise to a 16-6 victory in the afternoon game.
“They played a lot better than they did this morning,” said Mann.
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
