American Legion wrap-up: U18 American Legion baseball teams finish seasons over weekend

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on July 26, 2023.

sports@medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

The Medicine Hat Moose Monarchs and Medicine Hat Knights wrapped up their seasons over the weekend with their final tournaments.

The Moose Monarchs travelled to Missoula after earning a spot in the 96th annual Legion AA State Tournament. They opened their tournament Saturday against the first place Helena Senators, falling 14-10.

Jeff Bullock led the game’s offence, notching three RBIs on two hits and a run scored. Evan Morrison started the game on the mound and worked four innings with three strikeouts. Koby Eskestrand pitched the final two innings, striking out three.

Medicine Hat bounced back with a win Sunday morning, defeating the Billings Royals 11-10. The Monarchs rallied back from an 8-4 deficit in the sixth inning and tied the score 8-8 before trailing 10-8 to start the seventh. With the score 10-9 with two outs, Bullock hit a two-run single to make the score 11-10 for the Monarchs. He finished the game with five RBIs and three hits. Kyle Woolridge finished with three RBIs and Evan Morrison had two RBIs on a two-run home run in the first inning.

Trevin Ressler started the game and pitched four innings with two strikeouts. Cade Harrison worked 1.1 innings with a strikeout before Kayne Olinski recorded two outs. Ryler Straarup worked the final inning with a strikeout.

The Monarchs dropped their final game of the tournament and the season, falling 11-5 Monday against the Great Falls Chargers. Morrison led the offence with three RBIs on four hits with two runs scored. Straarup started the game and pitched 3.2 innings with two strikeouts. Olinski recorded one out and Woolridge finished the game with one strikeout in two innings pitched.

Knights

The Knights competed at the North A District Tournament over weekend and closed things out with a 1-2 run. They opened the tournament with a 6-5 loss Thursday against the Lethbridge Miners. Lance Macpherson had two hits, two RBIs and a run scored in the loss. JJ Harnett started the game and worked 3.2 innings before Nixon Kunkel took over and worked two innings. Pryce Velichko recorded the final two outs.

The Knights bounced back in their second game of the weekend, winning 2-1 over the Tri-County Cardinals on Friday.

Mace Carrire led the offence in that win, notching an RBI on two hits. Cole Carlson started the game and worked 5.2 innings, recording six strikeouts. Kunkel pitched the remaining 1.1 innings with a strikeout.

Their tournament came to a close with a 10-2 loss Saturday against the Lewistown Redbirds. Wade Davies and Velichko each recorded an RBI on one hit. Velichko started the game and worked 1.2 innings with a strikeout before handing the ball off to Dryden Pidlisny who pitched 2.2 innings with a strikeout. Cade Moch recorded two strikeouts and Davies finished the game, working the last inning.

U15

The Saamis Rotary Majestics have a lot of season ahead and the U15 squad competed at the Alberta Summer Games in Okotoks over the weekend. They finished outside of the top three and are in action this weekend with a four-game set against the Lethbridge PBA Bulls.

Aces

The EBT Aces were in Airdrie over the weekend in their final action ahead of provincials, set for this weekend.

The Aces opened their weekend stretch with a 14-2 win over the Bonnyville Braves on Saturday. Ethan Grad drove in five RBIs on four hits with three runs scored to lead the Medicine Hat offence. Jayden Mook started the game and worked 6.1 innings with 12 strikeouts. Aaron Recio recorded the final two outs, striking out one batter.

The Aces continued their momentum into Sunday morning, beating the Red Deer Braves 9-4. Owen Fisher had two RBIs on two hits and a run scored and Grad added three RBIs on three hits. Ryker Miller started the game and recorded nine strikeouts on 3.2 innings pitched. Recio came into the game in relief and recorded two strikeouts in 3.1 innings.

The Aces finished their weekend with a 17-12 win over the Stettler Storm. Lyndon Dobson had four RBIs, also picking up three hits and three runs scored. Micah Fontaine also added four RBIs on three hits. Dobson started the game on the mound, working an inning before Jude Martin took over and pitched four innings with five strikeouts. Fisher finished the game with a strikeout in his lone inning pitched.

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