NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Medicine Hat Moose Monarchs' Connor Drever hits a ball into play during a consolation game in the 31st annual Servus Credit Union AA American Legion Baseball Tournament against the Calgary Redbirds at Jeffries Park on Sunday, June 2, 2019.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Medicine Hat Moose Monarchs dug their way out of a losing skid to close out their host Servus Credit Union AA American Legion Baseball Tournament with a resounding 11-1 win over the Calgary Redbirds.
After going without a win in a rain-shortened Vauxhall tournament to kick off the seasons, the Monarchs found themselves on the wrong end of three straight losses to open their 31st annual host tourney – but they bounced back to close out the weekend with a much-needed victory.
“It’s been a long time coming, I guess, but we have been trending in the right direction,” said Monarchs head coach Skyler Stromsmoe, whose Monarchs open their AA American Legion Baseball Conference season Tuesday against the Lethbridge Elks at Athletic Park. “We had a tough first weekend in Vauxhall with not a full squad, but these last three games we could have won any of the three that we lost, and to win today, it’s nice getting that one coming into Conference.”
Discipline was the key to the skid-snapping result, says Stromsmoe, as pounding the strike zone from the mound while waiting for the right pitch in the box left the Monarchs thriving in Sunday’s consolation game.
“We didn’t walk a single batter. We had three strikeouts, no walks, and even on the offensive side of things we had more walks than strikeouts,” said Stromsmoe. “If you’re striking out more than you’re walking we have a really good chance of winning the game.”
Jayden Schwindt cemented the victory by lacing a mercy walk-off double into the gap during Sunday’s fifth inning – capping off a 2-for-3 performance with his 4th RBI of the day.
“It’s nice that we all worked hard to get this win,” said Schwindt. “We all just did our part in the win. The pitchers did well, they threw their strikes when they needed to, their got their ground balls, we got our outs.”
Ethan Boutkan followed up Schwindt’s efforts with 3 RBI in a 2-for-3 outing while Heyden Harrison was 1-for-3 with 3 RBI.
Tory Nelson earned a relief victory after taking the hill to start the third and limiting Calgary to two hits while fanning a pair over the final three frames. Boutkan held the Redbirds to one run on three hits and a strikeout through the first two innings.
The Monarchs opened their tournament with a 7-5 loss to the Calgary Blues in an extra inning Friday before falling 5-2 to Edmonton’s Jasper Place Jays and 13-8 to the Saskatoon Cubs Saturday.
“We were really close in those last three games. We weren’t ever out of a game,” said Monarchs catcher Reese Whelen. “Today I think we just put it all together and we were able to pull out with the win.”
The Saskatoon Cubs went on to win the tournament with a 9-8 extra-inning victory over the Blues in Sunday’s championship game.
Knights go 3-1
The Medicine Hat K of C Knights swept a doubleheader against the Lewistown Redbirds Saturday before splitting a set with the Havre North Stars Saturday to improve to 4-2 on the A American Legion Baseball season.
The Knights battled to a pair of close victories over the Redbirds, 5-2 and 6-4, before pushing the streak to three with an 8-4 win over Havre to kick off Sunday’s doubleheader. But the North Stars rallied with eight runs in the weekend’s final inning to send the Knights home with a 10-9 loss.
Kobe Coderre did all he could to keep the Knights in the win column with 4 RBI in a 2-for-3 outing, while Cole Rath settled for the loss after allowing eight unearned runs on two hits in 1/3 of a frame.
Hayden Hall led the way in Sunday’s earlier victory over Havre with 3 RBI in a 2-for-3 performance, while Evan Morrison and Wyatt Study each added an RBI in the win.
Coderre earned the win after holding Havre to four runs on eight hits through 6 and 2/3 innings.
Kayden Hleucka helped kick off the weekend in a positive way with two triples and an RBI in Medicine Hat’s opening win over Lewistown. Coderre had 2 RBI with one hit in the win, while Hall cashed another run in a three-hit showing.
Study earned the complete game victory after limiting Lewistown to just two runs on three hits.
Jordan Hieb and Coderre both led the offence with 2 RBI in their team’s second win over the Redbirds.
While the Knights only managed five base knocks, the pitching staff managed to hold on for the win.
Morrison allowed two runs on three hits through the first three innings, then Hall allowed another pair on three hits through two frames and Peyton Eddy allowed just two hits over the final two innings.
The Knights will be in Lethbridge to take on the Miners in a doubleheader on Tuesday night.
