Its hard to believe, but the Sylvan Lake Gulls regular season is winding down. The good news is that they will be entering the playoff portion of their season at the end of this week. And we hope it will be a long, entertaining, and productive couple of weeks. But we still have a few games left before that, and a couple of weeks to review, to see how we got here.
The post-All-Star stretch started out in Fort McMurray, where the Gulls faced the Giants for a couple of games. In the first game the Gulls found themselves up 8-0 after four innings, but saw that lead dwindle to 8-6 after seven. They got into a bit of a tough situation at the end, but Gulls All-Star pitcher Brayden Stewart came in and closed the door, striking out four Giants along the way.
The next night the Gulls found themselves down 3-0 after two innings, battled back to go up 4-3 in the fourth, and were tied 5-5 after five. The seventh saw the Giants score again and hold on to sneak out a 6-5 win.
From Fort McMurray the Gulls headed to Spruce Grove for a doubleheader against the Cactus Rats. It didn’t go as they’d hoped, as they got their first look at Energy City Metro Park. Game #1 saw them fall behind early and never recover, as they took it on the chin, losing 10-1.
We saw the Gulls unveil some late-season additions in this game. A couple of familiar names showed up: Cleary Simpson and Kyle Froehlich, original Gulls from Year #1, as well as some new faces, Hunter Derr, Zac Foden, and Jaxon Zanolli. These extra players could be key additions, as players will start leaving to return to their various schools as fall nears.
The second game of the doubleheader was much more exciting, despite the fact that the Gulls ultimately lost in extra innings. They fell behind 1-0 in the second but tied it in the sixth. Maddox Shaver led off the inning with a double, and Charlie Collins was able to drive him in to tie the score. The game remained 1-1 after seven innings, forcing extra innings.
In the Gulls’ half of the eighth they were able to score once without getting a hit. In extra innings, teams begin with a runner on second base. With one out, Cleary Simpson walked, putting runners on first and second. Then a couple of balks advanced the runners a base each time, scoring a run. In the Rats’ half of the inning they also started with a runner on second. He advanced to third on a groundout. The next batter was hit by a pitch. A stolen base and a throwing error led to a run for the Rats. The game was tied again. Then a sacrifice fly scored the winning run.
A tough loss for the Gulls, and a three-game losing streak, as they headed home to face the Regina Red Sox.
This game was a chance to see the two finalists from last year’s WCBL Championship Series. The Gulls fell behind 2-0 in the second inning. They answered with three runs in the fourth when the Red Sox gave up three walks, a costly error, and a single. In the sixth inning Regina scored three runs of their own to go up 5-3 before the Gulls exploded for five runs in the bottom of the inning. The Sox got one more in the seventh, but the Gulls put up three more for a much-needed 11-6 win. Reece Hemmerling pitched the first 6⅓ innings before giving way to Brayden Stewart, who went 1⅔ innings, gave up no hits, and struck out four. Luke Stutesman finished off the final inning.
Last weekend saw a very strong Saskatoon Berries team come in for a pair of games. The first game got off to a rough start for the Gulls, as they fell behind 5-0 in the second inning. They got a couple of runs back before giving up two more in the fifth. With the score 7-2 for the Berries, the Gulls replied with a big five-run inning of their own. They took advantage of three hits, three walks, and an error to score five and tie the game at 7-7. Another game went to extra innings. In the tenth inning the Berries were able to score twice, and the Gulls were shut down, leading to a 9-7 win for the visiting Berries.
The second game went much better for the Gulls. They built up a 4-0 lead after five innings before the Berries scored twice, but Sylvan answered with two in the bottom of the sixth and added another run in the seventh to extend their lead to 7-2. The Berries got one in the eighth, but the Gulls came back with three more. Final score: Gulls 10, Berries 3.
Elijha Hammill had a standout performance for the Gulls, going 4-for-5 at the plate with a home run and five RBIs. Maddox Shaver also homered and drove in three runs. On the mound, Mason Little, Jaxon Zanolli, and Seth Mahler teamed up to shut down the Berries.
Then, with time in the season winding down and time to make up games running out, the Gulls played a unique doubleheader: two complete games against different opponents.
They opened against the Lethbridge Bulls, a team they may well face in the first round of the playoffs, and they sent a message, knocking them off 15-4. The Gulls used five doubles and a triple to ignite the offence. A number of Gulls had multiple hits and multiple RBIs in their dominant performance. Noah Bourgeois started on the mound for the Gulls and pitched into the sixth inning, holding the Bulls to three runs before giving way to Trent Chavez. Luke Stutesman pitched the final inning.
In the second game of this doubleheader, the Brooks Bombers were the opponents. It was another statement game for the Gulls as they put the Bombers away by a score of 16-2. The Bombers scored twice in the first inning, but that was all they could manage on the day. The Gulls scored six in the first, and by the end of the fourth they had scored 16 runs. Eli Duncan had a monster game, hitting two doubles and a triple while driving in three runs. The Gulls added four more doubles and tossed in home runs by Maddox Shaver and Bryce Turner to put an exclamation mark on the win. George Hobbins, Griffin Catto, and Zac Foden handled the duties on the mound for the Gulls.
The next night saw the Regina Red Sox back in town for their second game against the Gulls. Sylvan was up 5-0 after two innings and 6-0 after four before Regina scored once in the sixth and added another in the seventh. The Gulls answered with four in the bottom of the seventh to wrap it up. Charlie Collins and Coleman Parry led the offence. Charlie went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, and two stolen bases. Coleman went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs. Matthew MacKenzie pitched six strong innings for the Gulls before giving way to Seth Mahler to close it out.
The next night the Gulls were in Okotoks for the first game of a home-and-home against the Dawgs. It was a rough night for our locals, as they took it on the chin, 12-1. Enough said!
The next night the two teams were back in Sylvan for what turned out to be an extremely exciting game. Okotoks scored once in the first, and that was answered by a monster home run from Elijha Hammill. The second inning saw the Gulls score a couple more to go up 3-1. Okotoks chipped away and scored once in the third and another in the fourth, making it 3-3. It stayed that way until the seventh, when the Gulls scored the go-ahead run as Johnboy Rittenhouse singled to drive in Dom Giusti.
In the top of the ninth the Dawgs got their leadoff batter on first when he was hit by a pitch. The next batter struck out before another single put the Dawgs on first and third with one out. A fly ball to right field looked like it might lead to the tying run, but Charlie Collins threw an absolute dart to catcher Eli Duncan, who was able to tag out the runner and put the finishing touch on a huge 4-3 Gulls win. Bryson Leach, Seth Mahler, and Brayden Stewart all pitched well for the Gulls that night.
Then the Gulls were off to Lethbridge for the weekend. The first game saw the Gulls build up a 14-0 lead after six innings before letting their foot off the gas a bit. Lethbridge scored once in the seventh and added four in the eighth before the Gulls closed it out with another run in the ninth to win 15-5.
Charlie Collins followed up his game-ending throw with a game that saw him enter the Gulls record books. He became the first Gull ever to hit for the cycle, collecting a single, double, triple, and home run all in the same game. He went 4-for-4 and drove in a couple of runs. The Gulls actually hit four home runs in the game, as Elijha Hammill, Coleman Parry, and Maddox Shaver also went yard. Eli Duncan had a pair of doubles, and Bryce Turner also doubled. Shaver had four RBIs, Duncan had three, and Parry chipped in a couple. Mason Little had a strong game on the mound, going six innings, giving up only four hits and striking out nine Bulls batters. Luke Stutesman, Thomas Hill, and Zac Foden closed out the game.
Game #2 in Lethbridge was delayed for a couple of hours due to air quality. Once they got going, the Gulls scored in the second and fourth innings to go up 2-0. They added three in the sixth and two more in the seventh before the Bulls scored a couple, but the Gulls closed it out with three more in the eighth to win 10-2.
Johnboy Rittenhouse led the way in this game, going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, and four RBIs. Eli Duncan added two hits, including a triple, and drove in a pair of runs. Maddox Shaver also had three RBIs. George Hobbins had another strong performance on the mound, going six innings, giving up only one hit and striking out 11 Bulls batters. Kai Rempel and Trent Chavez cleaned up the final three innings.
So, as we enter the final few days of the regular season, the Gulls find themselves in a position where they can finish no worse than second in the WCBL West and still have a shot at first. Regardless, they will begin their playoff run at home this Friday. It looks like their opponents will either be Lethbridge or Energy City.
Either way, it’s gonna be fun, as the Gulls will try for one more win than they had last year and bring home the WCBL title.
Go, Gulls, Go!!!
