Miller Express stay alive in series
The Moose Jaw Miller Express aren’t about to pack it in for the season just yet.
A three-run triple by Mitchell Robinson kicked off a five-run first inning and Express starter Ryder Yakel held the Weyburn Beavers to only two runs over seven innings to take a 9-4 win in Game 3 of their best-of-five Western Major Baseball League series.
The victory came on the heels of a pair of tough losses to open the series – 10-3 in Game 1 and 14-4 in Game 2. “It really feels amazing because we know we’re good ball players and we know we can play with these guys,” said Miller Express outfielder Ty Schindel. “We showed it tonight and we’re going to show it the rest of the series.”
It didn’t take long for the Express to get things going in their first playoff game at Ross Wells Park. Six of their first seven batters reached base in the opening inning, with Robinson’s shot leading the assault.
Moose Jaw didn’t let up on Weyburn starter Landon Mostellar, either, scoring two more runs in the second before Schindel and John Prudhom hit solo home runs in the third to put the Express ahead 9-1. “We knew that’s what we’re capable of in our line-up one through nine, and everyone came through tonight,” Schindel said.
All that offence made things easy for Yakel, who gave up only two runs on five hits in his seven innings of work. Tannar Galey and Logan Hofmann gave up run on a pair of hits each over the final two innings, but that would be as close as the Beavers would get.
“We knew Ryder was going to throw a good game and we knew we were going to get a lot of fans out and Ross Wells would be pumping,” Schindel said. “So, it was nice to come out here and get a big win for the fans.” Eric Marriott was 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs scored while Markus Gregson was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in. Brooks Benson was 3-for-4 at the plate. The contest included a pre-game ceremony where the Miller Express thanked their billets and made a special presentation to the team’s graduating seniors.