MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Canucks are off to exactly the kind of start they were hoping for as hosts of the Baseball Sask 15U AA Tier II provincial championship.
The Canucks opened the eight-team tournament on Friday evening with a barnburner of a game, edging the Battlefords Beavers 8-7 before rallying from a 13-5 deficit to defeat the Saskatoon Blue Jays 21-20 in their first game Saturday afternoon.
As a result, Moose Jaw finds themselves in the driver’s seat heading into their final round robin game against the Saskatoon Black A’s (1-1) on Saturday evening, with a win in that contest guaranteeing a spot in the semifinal on Sunday.
Both Saskatoon teams are also in the hunt for a top-two round robin finish and a spot in the semifinal, with the Blue Jays at 1-1 after winning their first game 13-7 over the Black A’s, who picked up a 13-3 win over Battlefords in their other contest.
The Blue Jays wrap up their round robin against Battlefords at the same time the Canucks face the A’s, with the latter at Blackwell Diamond and former at Andrie Diamond at 5:30 p.m.
A Moose Jaw win will automatically give them top spot in Pool B, a loss will likely result in a tiebreaker at 9 a.m. on Sunday.
Should the Canucks finish 3-0 and no tiebreakers are involved, they’ll play in the semifinal at Blackwell at 10 a.m., with the bronze and gold medal games at 2 p.m.; if tiebreakers happen in either pool, the semifinals will be at 12 p.m. and gold medal game at 4 p.m. at Blackwell.
Things are all but decided in Pool A, with both the Lumsden Cubs and Weyburn Beavers off to 2-0 starts with one round robin game remaining, meaning they’ll advance to the semifinals. The Maklin Lakers and Saskatoon Cardinal Aces are both 0-2.
After putting together an unbeaten season and winning the Baseball Regina 11U AA league championship last weekend, the Moose Jaw Canucks have seen things continue to roll along at the Baseball Sask 11U AA Tier I provincials in Prince Albert.
Things were a little closer than they would have liked in their opener against the tournament hosts, but the Canucks would come away with a 21-19 win over the Prince Albert Royals. It was a far more comfortable showing in their second round robin game, a 19-9 victory against the Kindersley Royals.
With Kindersley and Prince Albert both at 1-1 and playing in the final robin game for both teams, Moose Jaw has already locked down a top-two finish and will play in the semifinal on Sunday morning.
The gold medal game will take place at 3 p.m.
