The Canucks finished off their 18-and-under AAA campaign with a 9-6 win over the Swift Current 57’s on Tuesday night, a day after pounding out a 10-5 win over the Regina Athletics.
The two wins saw the Canucks finish with a 5-13 record, good enough for 10th place in the 12-team league and a far cry from their first few games of the season when mercy-rule losses were far too often the order of the day.
Canucks 9, Swift Current 6
After three-straight one-run losses to the 57’s in their previous match-ups, the Canucks used a big inning to take control of the contest and hold on for the comfortable win.
Trailing 3-0 heading into the bottom of the third at Ross Wells Park, the Canucks sent 10 men to the plate, scoring runs on four straight plays on their way to putting up a six-spot and taking a 6-3 lead.
Another three runs in the fifth put Moose Jaw ahead 9-4, and there was no looking back from there.
Cole Breitkreuz finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, while Nathan Varjassy was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Carson Reed scored a pair of runs. Kaedyn Banilevic also scored a run and had a pair of RBI.
Kyle Duncan got the start on the mound and went four innings, giving up three runs on three hits, while Evan Callaghan and Kaleb Waller combined to toss the final three innings and close out the win.
Canucks 10, Athletics 5
After all the big innings they’d seen scored against them through the season, it was poetic justice that the Canucks were able to turn in one of their highest-scoring showings of the year in the second last contest of the season.
Tied 2-2 heading into the top of the seventh, the Canucks would score eight runs to blow things open, taking advantage of six hits, a pair of walks and an error to put up their snowman.
It was a fitting cap to a solid performance on the mound for Varjassy, who tossed 102 pitches over six innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits and striking out six. He couldn’t quite finish things off, though, and Kyle Duncan recorded the final three outs for the win.
Varjassy helped out his own cause with a 2-for-4 showing that included a run and an RBI; all told every player in the Canucks line-up would cross the plate at least once.
Waller was 2-for-2 with two runs, Dylan Reed 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Banilevic had another two RBI, Orin Olson had a pair of hits.
