Mosquito Indians up to the challenge at home
The Swift Current Mosquito Indians found themselves in the competitive games they were hoping for during their home tournament. They responded with a 3-2 record against three talented teams from Saskatoon, settling for silver after an 8-6 loss to the Saskatoon Screwballs in the final.
The Mosquito Indians opened the tournament with a 7-6 win over the Saskatoon Blue Jays Crush. They moved to 2-0 with a 127 win over the Screwballs before losing their final round robin game 10-6 to the Saskatoon Cardinals.
They rematched with the Cardinals in the semi-final Sunday and earned a onerun win before losing the rematch to the Screwballs in the final.
“They were a very good baseball team,” said coach Derek Murdoch of their championship opposition.
“We were pretty excited to beat them on Saturday when I think we gave them their first loss of the season. We knew going into the final that we were going to see probably one of the best teams in the province and we were right there with them.”
The Indians trailed the final 4-0 after the first inning but battled back to make it a very close ballgame during a very competitive weekend.
“We were pretty happy. It has been awhile since we have been in real tight, tough games, tense ballgames where our guys had to bear down and play against some guys that were real strong. For us to make it to the final against those three AAA teams was a credit to our guys and we were very happy,” said Murdoch. “Obviously we would have liked to win that last game but it was a fun game and the kids battled back. We got in a hole and made it interesting right down to the wire and we are going to be a better team because of it.”
He was thrilled to host three talented teams at their home tournament.
“We have had a few games this year where we have been pretty bad. We wanted to go and see how we stack up against teams that we think are going to be really good teams. We battled and when we beat the Screwballs on Saturday we had been down 7-3 and came back and beat maybe the best team in the province 12-7.”
He noted that they were also down in the semi-final and clawed their way back to a one-run win. “We know where we are at and our kids know that anything can happen. We have lots of guys that can make plays and make things happen and we are never going to be out of a game even down four runs today. We made it interesting and I am proud of the way the guys battled.”
The Mosquito Indians currently lead the Baseball Regina AAA League with a 15-3 record with Melville hot on their heels.
They are off this weekend and will play two games in Pilot Butte to conclude the regular season. The league tournament will be played next Saturday in Regina. Swift Current’s Cohen Funk (left) scored on a passed ball Saturday to help the Mosquito Indians to a 127 win over the Saskatoon Blue Jays Screwballs.