The Weyburn Beavers and Brooks Bombers had to cram a lot of baseball into one night Thursday, as the teams played a doubleheader to make up for Wednesday’s rain out. The Bombers would be the ones to come out on top in both games, though, holding off late rallies from the Beavers in both games. The games weren’t without controversy, either, as the end of the second game saw the two teams exchanging words as the Bombers left the field, and the fans angrily giving their disapproval to the umpires for the strike zone of home plate umpire Dave Bisskey.

With the two games scheduled for seven innings each, the first game saw the Beavers and Bombers go ten innings to find a winner, with Brooks eventually coming out on top 5-4. The Bombers opened the scoring in the game early.

They were up one nothing after the first inning, taking advantage of miscues from Weyburn starting pitcher Austin Gurr. Two more were added in the second inning, and one more in the fourth, spelling the end of the Lethbridge native’s night. Brodie Stairs came on to replace him in the third inning.

The Beavers would get on the board in the sixth inning when Josh Trybuch brought home Brady Nygaard with a single to right field. The next batter, Brett Young, then cashed in Anthony Wiggins, before a deep single to center from Cam Williams scored Neil Ring and Trybuch. With the game tied at four, the defense would take over for both teams for the next few innings, but the Beavers did threaten in the seventh.

Brooks pitcher Jacob Barker would run into control trouble, as the Beavers would load the bases on three walks. With one out, Neil Ring came up to the plate, looking to make contact to bring home the winning run. Barker, though, found the strike zone and would sit Ring, and Trybuch down on a total of eight pitches, ending the inning.

In the tenth, with Beau Rabedeaux on the mound for the Beavers, the Bombers were able to load the bases. David Janes would hit into a fielder’s choice, with the throw to second intended to get out number three. Fans and the Beavers coaching staff believed the play was interference by the baserunner at second base. Logan Burke from the Bombers came into second with a hard slide, and as he stood up, bumped Josh Trybuch off of the bag where the forceout was attempted, preventing any chance of the second baseman from making a throw to third base. The call on the field stood, and the Bombers took the 5-4 lead. Weyburn wasn’t able to get the game-tying run in in the bottom half of the inning.

In the second game, the Bombers once again jumped out to an early lead. They would score three runs in the first inning, putting Weyburn into an early hole. Another run from Brooks in the third made it a 4-0 game, and Weyburn found themselves in a familiar spot. This time, they didn’t wait to get on the board. In the bottom of the third, Wade Weinburger, who hit 19 home runs as a freshman with Bryan College this season, hit his first as a Beaver. It was a bomb to right-center field, and the solo shot made it a 4-1 game. Pitching would take over at this point for both teams.

Conner DiNaro, who would go the distance, gave up four runs early but struck out seven. Brooks would have three pitchers come out in the seven innings, with starter Roberto Aldana lasting into the seventh inning. He struck out eight, giving up three earned runs on six hits. Kyle Poapst and Quentin Kopjar would finish out the game, each getting strikeout.

In the seventh inning, the Beavers began their rally. Before Aldana left the game, he would give up a RBI single to Evan Weidner. Weidner would then score when Weinburger came up to bat. With a runner on third, the controversy would begin. Beavers catcher Zach Frazier would strike out swinging, after going down early on two called strikes. The fans and Beavers bench voiced their displeasure with the strike zone, arguing the two balls called against Frazier were in the same spot as the two called strikes. This brought up Wiggins, pinch-hitting for Trybuch. Wiggins would go down swinging, ending the game with Brooks winning 4-3. The fans voiced their displeasure with the calls by the ump as they started to leave the field.

The Beavers, who are now on a three-game losing skid, will have to turn things around in a short time. They host the Regina Red Sox Friday night at Tom Laing Park. The game starts at 7:05 p.m.