The Prince Albert Athletics held the Tisdale Rangers in check for every inning but one at Andy Zwack Field on Tuesday, but that one inning did a lot of damage.
The Athletics led 2-1 heading into the top of the sixth when the Rangers exploded for seven runs on route to an 8-4 win. The win vaulted the Rangers into first place in the Highway 3 Baseball league ahead of the idle Humboldt Dodgers, who postponed their game with Birch Hills due to poor field conditions. The Athletics, meanwhile, fall to 3-5 on the year with two games to play.
“Every time we play these guys it seems like it’s the same story. We stay close with them and then we have that one bad inning where it all falls apart,” Athletics player manager Dillon Zuck said after the game. “They’ve got good bats over there. They learn every inning and they just get better and better. It seems like we can’t do the same on our side of things.”
Prince Albert scored twice in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Rangers clawed one run back in the third, but struggled against Athletics starter Isiah Parent, who finished with 10 strikeouts over six innings.
Things came apart in the top of the sixth, however, when Tanner Kirkland tied the game on an RBI triple, then scored on Matthew Cresswell’s RBI double.
Cresswell then scored on an infield single to make it 4-2 Tisdale, and the visitors never looked back.
It was a particularly frustrating outing for the Athletics, since they had a chance to extend their lead in the bottom of the fifth when they stranded runners on second and third.
“Bottom line is that we just need to keep our bats hot,” Zuck said. “We need to keep hitting balls, not swinging for the fences. Let’s just get it in play, get on base, and let them make the errors.
“Guys are getting frustrated not getting their hits and whatnot, so of course they want to hit that big one that seals the deal, but it just didn’t happen. We’ve got a few things to change up and work on.”
Nick Dutchak came on to pitch a scoreless top of the seventh, and the Athletics pushed two runs across the plate in the bottom of the inning, but that was as close as they got.
Despite the loss, Zuck said it’s been a solid year for the Athletics, who still sit in a playoff spot with a little more than one week left in the season.
“It’s been the best season that we’ve had,” he said. “We finally have a group that really clicks and all ball players that know what they’re doing. They want to be at the ball club. It’s not like I’m trying to recruit guys here and there. It’s just everyone’s here (and) everyone’s kind of a team for once.”
Tuesday’s loss was Prince Albert’s final home game of the regular season. They’ll take on the Nipawin Giants in Nipawin on Thursday before facing the Humboldt Dodgers in a make-up game next week. The game day has not been determined.
Zuck said Highway 3 has designated next week as a make-up week after so many games were postponed due to heavy rain. He said the Athletics have been fortunate because PA Minor ball and the City of PA took such great care of Andy Zwack Field.
“It was definitely a late start to the season here, especially with most of the other teams in the league being farmers, so they’re out in the fields late as well,” he added. “We’ve been pretty lucky. There have only been a few re-schedules on our side of things. Its’ been pretty steady.”
