MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- It’s safe to say the Moose Jaw Miller Express went out on their shields in Game 3 of the Western Canadian Baseball League championship final.
A stellar pitching performance from starter Westin Walls, two comebacks from multi-run deficits, and an end result that was as close as can be.
In the end, the Okotoks Dawgs got a walk-off home run from Connor Crowson to take a 6-5 victory and claim their third-straight WCBL title with a two-games-to-one victory in the best-of-three championship final series.
Okotoks got off to a good start, stringing together three straight base hits to take a 1-0 lead out of the first inning. They’d add another run in the third and extend their lead to 3-0 in the fourth, but were unable to put together anything resembling a sustained rally thanks to Walls’ work on the mound.
The Terrell, Texas product started on limited rest after throwing 122 pitches in a complete game victory over Saskatoon in Game 3 of the East Division Final in addition to getting the final out in Game 2 of the WCBL Final one night earlier.
He was able to keep Okotoks’ powerful offence from getting away, eventually leaving the game after 6 ⅓, having allowed five runs on nine hits while striking out three.
With their pitcher keeping them in the game, the Express put together their first game-tying rally in the fifth inning.
Austin Gurney hit a two-out single to score Thomas Soto, and one batter later, Nate Mensik would take a 1-2 offering from Aaron Hammer over the outfield fence for a two-run home run, tying the game at three.
Brendan Luther would restore Okotoks’ lead in the bottom of the inning when he scored on a sacrifice fly, and Aidan Rose made it a 5-3 game in the seventh when he scored on the game’s lone error by either team.
All that did was set the stage for another Millers’ comeback in the top of the eighth.
After Soto hit a one-out single, Robert Estrada followed up with a triple to bring him home and make it a one-run game. Estrada himself then came home on a wild pitch with Gurney at the plate, and things were once again tied up.
It all led into the bottom of the ninth, where lead-off hitter Crowson took the third pitch he saw from Moose Jaw reliever Takeo Cookson out of Seaman Stadium, kicking off a raucous celebration as the 6,341 fans celebrated another WCBL title.
Nate Houston had a 3-for-5 game and finished the Final series with a .548 average, Gurney and Joe Osborn had a pair of hits each in four trips to the plate.
Ricardo Sanchez had a pair of hits and scored two runs for Okotoks, Crowson also had a pair of runs scored.
Graham Brunner started for the Dawgs and allowed two runs on four hits over 4 ⅔ before a cavalcade of six relievers took the mound to finish off Okotoks’ win.
