13U AAA 57’s clinch Regina league title at home
The Swift Current 13U AAA 57’s played winning baseball in their final weekend of the season to claim a Regina Baseball League championship with two home wins.
“It feels great. The kids come to play yesterday and today and they battled hard and came out with the victory,” said head coach Wayne Kobley.
The 13U 57’s had no problem advancing through the semi-finals with a 10-2 win over the visiting Regina Expos on Saturday.
The 57’s jumped all over the Expos with four runs in the first inning and then added three in the third inning and two more in the fifth inning. Levi Wills, Jamie Kirwan, Mason Fauser, Aiden Kilshaw, and Kyron Watson all crossed the plate twice. Fauser hit a towering two-run home run in the first inning to score the eventual game-winning run.
The 57’s defeated the visiting Estevan Brewers 5-4 on Sunday to clinch the league title in a tension filled game. The 57’s trailed in the first and second innings before fighting back to take the lead for good in the bottom of the second inning.
They trailed 3-1 in the second before centre fielder Levi Wills took over on the mound and allowed only one run over six innings to clinch the win.
“I just took some deep breathes and knew my defense would make the plays, so I just tried to pitch strikes in there,” said Wills, 13, of his clutch pitching performance. “Levi Wills is a battler. He did the same thing at Provincials for us, pitched 80 pitches in eight innings. He just throws strikes and gets outs and we got really good defense behind him. He was great,” said Kobley.
After Wills took over on the mound trailing 3-1, the 57’s scored three runs in the bottom of the inning and then Fauser hit a solo home run in the third inning for the eventual winning run.
“It’s awesome. I dreamt that obviously and it just feels so good. The defense helped me out so much. It just feels great,” exclaimed Wills with his championship medal around his neck.
The Brewers had finished third with a 157-2 record in the regular season.
“I felt like we played great. Estevan is a great team. I felt like our defensive was very good today. We got some clutch hits when we needed them. I thought it was a great game,” said Wills.
The 13U 57’s finished with a 17-7-0 record in the regular season and then won both of their playoff outings.
“The boys improved a lot. We tried kids in different positions and by the end of the season they gelled and made the outs and got key hits when we needed them,” said Kobley.
“I thought it was great,” said Wills of the season overall. “We had a good record. It was fun to be with the team. It was a good team, everyone is skilled and just a great group of guys.”