U15 AAA Canucks Kick Off Home Opener With A Win
By Robert Thomas
It was a big night for the Moose Jaw U15 AAA’s Canucks as they kicked off their season with an 12 - 5 victory over the visiting Yorkton Cardinals.
Led by starting pitcher Neal Kohl the Canucks started out the first inning with three strikeouts.
In their half of the first inning the Canucks managed to score four runs on four hits while Yorkton managed to strike out three to end the inning.
Despite being down the Cardinals never gave up and managed to score two runs in the second inning.
The Canucks responded in the bottom of the second inning with a single run making the score 5 - 2.
Nigel Legare (right) trots past the Cardinals’ bat catcher scoring a run - MJ Independent photo
The third inning saw Yorkton lose their side of the with three straight outs.
The Canucks responded with two runs in the third including a home run by pitcher Neal Kohl.
The fourth inning saw the Cardinals score a single run before the Canucks recorded three strikeouts in a row.
The Canucks would score two runs in the bottom of the fourth adding another run to their lead.
Moose Jaw Canucks Taylor Usher scores a run - MJ Independent photo
The fifth inning would see the Cardinals score the last of their runs for the game.
The fifth and sixth innings would see three more runs for the Canucks as they had a 12 - 5 walk off victory in the seventh inning.
Lucas Lind crosses home plate - MJ Independent photo
“I like what I seen from our team tonight. I feel we were well rounded,” U15 AAA Canucks head coach Craig Flanagan said.
Flanagan was really happy in how the pitchers responded. “They attacked and threw strikes. We walked maybe one guy tonight so that’s good. The big emphasis for our pitching is we are going to attack and put the ball in play.”
On the offensive side of the game Flanagan felt the Canucks put the ball in play and didn’t have a lot of strikeouts.
Yorkton Orioles pitcher Sarafincian tags out a Canucks player trying to score a run - MJ Independent photo
Flanagan said he is looking for a good season with the U15 AAAs expecting to be in a fight for the provincial championship this season.
Last year the Canucks chased a lower level championship but this season there would be a push to finish in the top eight teams in the province to go after the top provincial championship.
Moose Jaw Canucks Kaiden Gadd watches Yorkton’s bat catcher steal a strike - MJ Independent photo
“They (the team) are well aware we have that calibre of a team. That at the end of the year we should be competing for a provincial title,” he said.
The Canucks are a well rounded team and really deep. The pitching is very good, the team has depth and the team’s defence are things Flanagan sees pointing the Canucks towards a good provincial run in the top division this season.
“I think most guys can hit throughout this lineup…one thing is we aren’t going to strike out a lot and put pressure on their defense.”
