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Midget Beavers look to provincials after league finals

Jul 18, 2016 | 2:00 PM

The Midget AA North Battleford Beavers are looking ahead to hosting provincials, after narrowly losing the league final.

The Beavers lost to Moose Jaw 8-7 Sunday, July 18, in the final of the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League AA final in Humboldt. Michael Hudec, a coach with the Beavers, said it was a surprising way to get into the final, defeating the host Humboldt team with a 4-3 extra innings win.

“We had one of our batters, Brett Benoit, who was being intentionally walked, and he surprised the opposing pitcher and whacked a single out to right field and won the game for us. So it was an exciting way to get there,” Hudec said.

He added the team played well in the final, but let it slip away at the end.

“We’re proud of our guys,” Hudec said. “We know they can come to play when it’s needed.” He added they had a tough draw which required a careful balancing act with their pitchers, but still finished the round robin at 3-1.

Hudec is hoping for good crowds when the Beavers host the provincial Tier One championships July 22 to 24.

“It helps immensely,” he said. “They love having the fans out and I think they’re always hoping to perform better in front of a hometown crowd, and it’s a hometown field so it’s going to be good. I think that’ll give us a little bit of an advantage.”

The tournament will include the Beavers as well as the Humboldt Dodgers, Lumsden Cubs, Moose Jaw Canucks, Regina Blue Jays and Regina Buffalos. North Battleford’s first game is at 6 p.m. Friday, following the opening ceremonies, and all their games are at Beaver Lions Stadium.

 

Geoff Smith is battlefordsNOW’s News Director, business and agriculture reporter. He can be reached at gsmith@jpbg.ca or tweet him @smithco.