Beavers fall short in critical game against Gulls

The Weyburn Beavers entered Tuesday night’s game against the Sylvan Lake Gulls with their playoff chances on the line. After Monday night’s loss, they would need to win out the final five games of the season and hope for some help from the opponents of the Swift Current 57s in order to clinch a berth in the postseason.  

The Beavers looked like they were going to be able to hold up their end of the bargain against the Gulls, until the 8th inning, when a rally by Sylvan Lake managed to give them a seven-run lead, and they would hold on for a 10-4 victory. 

Sylvan Lake had taken the lead in the first inning of the game, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly, before Weyburn evened the game up in the bottom of the second. A double to left field by Brett Potter would make it a 1-1 game.  

The Gulls added another run in the third, and one more in the fifth, before Weyburn answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the fifth to tie the game 3-3. Robert Gurney hit a single to right field that scored Cale Yuzdepski, while Ryan Muizelaar followed it up with a single that scored Nolan King. The game was tied, and it also spelled the end of the night for Sylvan Lake starting pitcher Tyler McWillie. 

Defensively, the two teams would keep things even until the eighth inning, when the Gulls blew the game wide open with seven runs, including a two-run home run blast from Jonah Weisner, and a three-run shot from Chase Rodriguez.  

Weyburn would make it 10-4 with a run in the bottom of the ninth as a sacrifice fly by Muizelaar brought in Tyren Dorrance.  

On the mound, Brock Depute, making his late-season debut for the Beavers, was tagged for the loss. He pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief for Beavers starter Owen McConnell. Depute game up four runs, three earned, on five hits while striking out one. McConnell went five innings in the start and finished with a stat line of two hits, three earned runs, three walks and two strikeouts. 

Pitching coach Matt Sartwell and catcher Robert Gurney having a chat with Weyburn Beavers starting pitcher Owen McConnell during Tuesday night's game. (Photo by Kristin Grassing)

Cole McGregor pitched 1/3 of an inning, and Jacob Clark finished the game off.  

The loss officially eliminated the Beavers from postseason contention, but their season is not over yet. They will be playing four more games, three at Tom Laing Park, before the WCBL regular season wraps up on August 5th. The next game is Thursday night as the Moose Jaw Miller Express come to town.