Kyle Gregoire of the North Battleford Beavers and Dylan Esau of the Meadow Lake Sox, pictured here in action. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Senior ball storylines

Beavers win fourth straight, Sox/Lakers showdown headline NSRBL latest

Jun 22, 2023 | 3:26 PM

As the North Sask. River Baseball League (NSRBL) surpasses the midway mark of the spring schedule, battlefordsNOW and meadowlakeNOW are taking a look at where things stand heading down the stretch of the senior ball season.

North Battleford Beavers

Following a shaky 1-2-1 start to the season, the North Battleford Beavers have hit their stride in a big way over the last couple of weeks, rattling off four straight wins, including a decisive 10-3 victory over second-place Meadow Lake, and 9-5 triumph over fourth-place Lloyd.

Beavers’ pitcher Kelly Baillargeon in action. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

Now 5-2-1 on the season, the Beavers sit third overall in the league standings, having outscored their opposition by a combined 45-11 margin over their last four games.

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Player and manager with the Beavers, Kyle Gregoire said the team’s success stems largely from their attention to detail on the defensive side of the ball.

“I wouldn’t care too much about the high scoring, [but] I do like that we’re having low scoring on the defensive side,” he said. “I think we’ve really tightened up on the defensive end and our pitching’s been really good of late, so if we can build on that, I think our bats are ready to do a good job each game and we can do really well here the next few games.”

Team leaders:

Hits: Gavin Nolin (17)

Runs: Gavin Nolin (12)

Batting average: Kyle Palmer (.778 – 7/9)

Strikeouts (Pitching): Jared Schmidt (15)

The Beavers will return to play early next week, at the Mervin Flyers (1-6) Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m.

Meadow Lake Sox

Last week’s loss to North Battleford serves as the Sox’ lone blemish on their record through the first month of the season, coming after six straight wins to open the year.

Matt Bourassa of the Meadow Lake Sox at the plate, in action. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

At 6-1 overall, Sox veteran pitcher and infielder, Craig Weran said it’s truly been an all-hands-on-deck performance by the team this season.

“We’ve got quite a few returning guys, and everyone’s been contributing,” Weran said. “Brett and Dylan Esau lead our offense and are just so dangerous at the top of our order, and when Kevin Gerwing’s around he’s been very good.

“Our middle-of-the-order guys like Matt Bourassa and Nathan Dancy have also been big contributors, with our young guys pitching in as well, so I’ve been super pleased with the offensive contributions from everybody up and down the lineup.”

Team leaders:

Hits: Brett Esau (11)

Runs: Brett Esau/Hunter Schwartz (6)

Batting average: Ryan Taylor (.875 – 7/8)

Strikeouts (Pitching): Quincy Winlker (20)

The Sox will play the top-seeded Standard Hill Lakers (7-1 on the season) Thursday night, whose lone loss came at the hands of the Sox last week in a 19-9 final. A battle of the NSRBL’s top two teams, the showdown will be at the Lakers’ home field at Silver Lake with the first pitch at 6:30 p.m.

Standard Hill Lakers

Last year’s league finalists, Standard Hill will be looking to avenge their loss to the Sox Thurs., as the teams’ matchup will serve as the lone game on the slate until next week.

The Lakers have outscored their opposition 19-4 over their last two games, and are led by the league’s most lethal 1-2 punch at the plate in Cooper Olson and Brett Harrison, who paced all players with 15 and 12 runs respectively.

Lloyd Twins

The Twins are fourth in the NSRBL standings at 3-5 and will be looking to find their rhythm again in the second half, after starting the season hot at 2-0. The Twins are led at the mound by pitcher Layne Young’s 16 strikeouts. Lloyd’s next game will be Tuesday night against Standard Hill.

Glaslyn Orioles

The Glaslyn Orioles (2-7) sit fifth overall but are coming off a pair of wins over their last four games including most recently a 13-8 victory over Mervin. The Orioles will make their return to action Tuesday against the Unity Cardinals.

Unity Cardinals

Unity is 2-4-1 through seven games, coming up on their most important week of the season. The Cardinals are led by dual-threat Garin Scherr who leads all pitchers with 22 strikeouts while being one of just five players to have hit double-digits in runs with 10. Unity will play three games in three nights Tues-Thurs., against Glaslyn, Lloyd, and Mervin.

Mervin Flyers

The Flyers split their home-and-home with Glaslyn earlier this week and will run the gauntlet in their return to play next week as well. Led by 2022 team MVP, Ryland McNinch’s nine hits, the Flyers will play two of the league’s top three teams with back-to-backs in Meadow Lake Monday and at home against North Battleford Tuesday.

League leaderboard:

Hits: Gavin Nolin (NB Beavers) 17

Runs: Cooper Olson (Standard Hill Lakers) 15

Batting average (min 7 at-bats): Ryan Taylor (ML Sox) .875 – 7/8)

Strikeouts (Pitching): Quincy Winkler (ML Sox) 20

The full NSRBL schedule can be found here.

—

Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1