Locals win bronze in baseball at Western Canada Summer Games
They left with a bronze medal, but Saskatchewan’s men’s baseball team, featuring three local players and two coaches, were left disappointed after winning only once in six attempts at the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games in Swift Current last week.
Saskatchewan lost their opening four games before defeating Alberta 11-4 on Friday and then concluded their tournament with a 6-5 loss to Manitoba that afternoon.
“Obviously we didn’t get the results we wanted and we feel we could have done a lot better,” said Kelsey Rokochy, who played right field and pitched for Saskatchewan. “It just came down to the bad innings we had and they just outnumbered the good innings. I feel like we just have to go back and get stronger and get ready for the next year.”
“We played pretty good. We didn’t play to our full potential, but if we came out here and competed we could have got gold,” added first baseman Dawson Schultz.
Rokochy and Schultz were joined by outfielder Ethan Murdoch and coaches Neil Hogg and Harv Martinez.
Despite a disappointing overall performance, the local players were hoping to grow from the experience.
“It’s a learning moment. Like coach said, we are coming out here and we are going to try and win this, but it is more of a learning experience. We battled, but we learned stuff too,” said Schultz.
“Everything that you do is a bigger part of yourself,” added Rokochy. “You just have to get bigger and stronger and get ready for the next competition coming up.”
They were thrilled to represent their province on their home diamond in an event that featured over 1,700 athletes, coaches, and mission staff.
“It was just great. Being from Swift Current and seeing all these people coming to your hometown and coming out to support you it’s just awesome to see. It’s just a great experience to be a part of. I am definitely very proud to be a part of all this,” said Rokochy.
“It was crazy. It was really fun. I was looking forward to this whole weekend, just playing baseball with this group of guys and staying at the Athletes Village was unbelievable,” added Schultz.