After dropping an 11-6 decision to North Regina to close out the Little League Saskatchewan provincial championship round robin on Friday night, the All-Stars exploded for 19 hits and 20 runs while their pitching staff tossed a shutout in a 20-0 victory at Gamble Diamond.
It was a far cry from the day before, starting with the pitching – after seeing control issues from almost every hurler that took the mound on Friday, the All-Stars saw two innings of one-hit ball and only three walks from Ryan Duncan to start the game before Nathan Pisio closed things out by giving up only two hits, striking out a pair and walking none in his two innings of work.
At the plate, it was more of the same from the game against Regina North, only this time almost every ball the All-Stars touched found a hole instead of being caught.
The end result was off-the-charts offence.
Every player in the Moose Jaw line-up had at least one hit, including a 4-for-4 night from Max Simmons that saw him also score four runs. Five players – Pisio, Duncan, Javin Boynton, Cooper Gregor and Owen Varjassy – scored two runs and knocked in a pair each, with Varjassy going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI.
The All-Stars led 3-0 after the first, 8-0 through two and sent 14 batters to the plate in the third while scoring 10 runs. Another two in the fourth made it an even 20 and three Regina outs later the mercy rule was invoked.
Moose Jaw now advances to the ‘A’ final of the double-knockout tournament against Regina North on Sunday. The winner of that game will advance directly to the A-B final on Tuesday, with the loser taking on Regina Kiwanis in the ‘B’ final on Monday night.
All games are 6 p.m. at Gamble Diamond.
