Legion ball teams each go 1-3

Wins were hard to come by in the first tournament weekend for Medicine Hat’s two American Legion baseball teams.

After opening-day wins Friday, both the Moose Monarchs and K of C Knights dropped their remaining games at events in Vauxhall and Lethbridge.

For the Monarchs, Friday started well with a 7-6 win in Vauxhall over the Edmonton Cardinals. Trailing 6-5 in the final inning, Tory Nelson doubled home the winning runs with two out and the bases loaded. Ashtyn Street got the win in relief after giving up two runs in the top half of the inning.

They only got two hits in a 10-1 loss to Lethbridge’s Elks Saturday, however, then were no-hit by Vauxhall in a 10-0, five-inning mercy rule loss later that day.

Sunday was a close contest against the Great Falls Chargers, but the Monarchs fell 5-4. Theryn Berndt and Will Sharpe each went 2-for-3, Wyatt Bergen pitched three innings and Ethan Boutkan took the loss despite only giving up one hit in three innings of work.

The Knights started their weekend in Lethbridge with a dominant 11-0 win over Gravelbourgh, Sask., led by a two-hit, 10 strikeout performance from starting pitcher Jaden Schwindt. Schwindt only needed to throw five innings thanks to the mercy rule, as the Knights’ bats struck for six runs in the second inning alone. Kayden Berndt drove in three runs on 2-for-3 hitting.

Like their AA counterparts, however, the single-A Knights lost their next three. On Saturday they fell 12-5 to the Vauxhall Spurs, undone when the Spurs put up seven on reliever Cole Rath in their last at-bat. Connor Drever went 2for-3.

Down 11-0 to Fort Macleod through two innings, the Knights tried to extend the game past the five-inning mercy rule stage but gave up three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Berndt took the loss on the mound.

They also fell 11-3 Sunday to Lethbridge’s Miners, the difference being back-to-back four-run innings in the fifth and sixth by the host side. Reese Whelen struck out eight in five innings but took the loss, while Heyden Harrison went 2-for-3.

Both the Monarchs and Knights have a couple weeks each until their next games as the high school season winds to a close.