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Beavers battle through adversity

May 16, 2016 | 12:13 PM

For the second time in two days, the North Battleford Beavers blew a late lead but were able to rally back to win.

They won two games against the Regina Buffalos, 8-4 and 16-8. While the score seemed substantial, the team almost lost the latter game.

“We thought we had it in the bag when we were up 6-1 but they kept coming at us,” coach of the Beavers Michael Hudek said. “We blew it in the fifth inning but were able to come back at the bottom of the fifth and score 9 runs so the boy’s bats came alive and we really took it to them in that inning.”

According to coach Hudek, the ability to come back late in games is the biggest difference between this year’s team and last year’s. The Beavers sit in first place with a 6-1-1 record which is the opposite of their 1-1-4 record at this point last year.

“We lost a lot of really close games last year to top tier teams,” Hudek said. “They were the types of games that we lost in the last inning. We were also a lot younger with the majority of our guys being first or second year. We have six guys in their third year so that experience really helps”

Hudek and his group of coaches have been with the team for three years and been coaching some of the players for even longer. The continuity of the staff has helped the team succeed. 

The Beavers’ next game is on the road against the Macklin Lakers

ghiggins@jpbg.ca

@realgreghiggins