18U AA Canucks Pull Off First Win
There wasn’t a sacrifice of fried chicken in the dugout nor incantations over their bats like in the movie Major League but for the Moose Jaw 18U AA Canucks the baseball gods were solidly behind them as they defeated the Regina Wolfpack 13 - 2 in a sixth inning mercy rule victory on Tuesday evening.
It was a night where the Canucks seemed unable to do any wrong. Even if they looked out the bounces went their way.
The win is a big one for the young Canucks team as they gathered their first win of the season. Presently the Canucks sport a 1 - 7 record.
A ground ball for a base hit - MJ Independent photo
The win is big news for the 18U AA Canucks as they finally get the losing monkey off of their back head coach Curtis Novak said.
“We got the bats going. Our pitchers dealt well tonight. I don’t think they’re was a single error on the board tonight. It was great to get that monkey off of our back tonight,” Novak said.
The two double plays turned by the Canucks were big for the team.
“They were big. They were big for our guys…it was awesome you’ve got to love it…the boys in the middle were playing well. And our bats too. It was an all round good game.”
The Canucks pitching was strong - MJ Independent photo
Tuesday evening’s game is the best performance for the team so far this season after “a very, very slow start.”
“The boys have just been carrying on and we’ve been grinding away. We had a great game this was the best,” he said.
Novak said the coaches had asked the boys to just be confident and it shone through.
“They showed up for everything tonight. It was great.”
The Wolfpack took an early 2 - 0 lead but then were decimated by the Canucks who scored seven runs in the fourth inning.
“We started down there and just ran with them until the fourth inning then the bats started going and a couple of errors we kind of went on our way. A couple of bounces went our way and they were off to the races,” Novak said.
A miss at first base turned from a sure out against the Canucks into…. MJ Independent photo
The miss at first base that turned into a standup double was seen as “huge” by the coach and standup base running by the player involved.
……a standup double - MJ Independent photo
He said for the season, the team was a young bunch of guys and goal was improved game by game and practised by practice.
There are only three returnees from last year’s team as most graduated.
Pitching has been challenging with the new pitch count rules.
“The pitch count makes it a little bit more difficult but I think it’s a good thing. It saves on arms and forces you to (improve all pitchers),” Novak said.
“I’m happy it was great to see the boys comes out laughing and smiling after this game. It was a great win for us.”
Turning the first of two double plays - MJ Independent photo
Rounding third base for home - MJ Independent photo
The Canucks next league game is on May 28th at 7 pm versus the Regina White Sox at Ross Wells Park
