The Sask Five U18 AAA Giants got off to a great start to the season after winning it’s first two games during a doubleheader against the North West Prairie Pirates on May 30 at Mocon Baseball Diamonds in Martensville.
It was tale of two different games. The Giants’ offence exploded in the first game to earn a 16-1 win, while it was a pitching duel in the second game which ended in a 2-1 decision, in walk-off fashion.
In the bottom of the seventh inning of the second game, Bill Hosegood hit a two out, infield single which was bang-bang at first, showing lightning speed to be safe and setting the table for next batter, Hanson Mark.
“That’s one thing that we have, is we have speed,” said Sask Five Giants head coach Jason Ryden. “Bill Hosegood is one of our fastest players on the team, so putting him in a leg race against the ball over to first, I’d give it to Billy most of time.”
During Mark’s at bat, Hosegood stole second and Mark came up big with a walk-off hit for the win.
Both players are rookies in the U18 division and Ryden was impressed with what they did late in the game.
Right until that point it was slim pickings offensively for Sask Five, as pitcher Cooper Price was doing his best to keep the Giants in the game. There were a couple innings where he had to work himself out of a jam, including the fourth inning when the leadoff hitter reached third base. However, he ended up striking out the next three batters in order to get out of the inning unscathed.
“ Cooper is a pretty intense pitcher and he takes a lot on his shoulders and he thought maybe he owned that triple,” Ryden said. “He was determined that he needed to get that one back, and he got three strikeouts.”
Retiring those hitters really pumped up Cooper, as he let out an emphatic yell going into the dugout, and Ryden said that gave him momentum in pitching the final three innings.
In the opening game of the doubleheader, the Giants really had the bats going, scoring multiple runs in every inning.
“We got three runs right off the hop and we ended up getting a few every inning (after that),” said Ryden.
The Giants had a productive second inning, scoring six runs to take a commanding 9-1 lead and again continued to produce, plating another seven runs combined in the third and fourth innings, which Ryden was happy to see.
“It was just a single, after single, after single, and there was a couple of hits and doubles that cleared the bases,” he said. “It was just a nice ball game where you saw a lot of hits and scored runs.”
Not only did the Giants have it going offensively, but the pitching was solid as well. Chantze Pauls threw four innings, only allowing two hits, and Hanson Mark closed the game in the fifth. Since the Giants were up by more than ten runs in five innings the mercy rule came in to effect.
Pauls struggled a bit in the first inning, allowing a run, but he was able to rebound and finish the game strong.
“Chantze pitched well,” said Ryden. “He had a tough first inning, but he knew that and he came back with three strong innings; and we expect that from Chantze.”
Baseball is an unpredictable game and for the Giants to earn a blowout win and then to also win a match where it could have went either way, shows the versatility of the team.
“Knowing that we could score (16 runs), and knowing that we could win a 2-1 ball game, gives the kids the confidence. We don’t know what to expect in a game but we know we have the ability to win,” said Ryden.
Ryden was happy to pick up the back-to-back wins, especially since every player on the team contributed to the victories.
The Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League is very competitive, but as long as the team plays with the right mind set, Ryden believes the Giants will have success this season.
“If you’re ready to play a game then good things will happen and when you put in the work you’re going to get the right results,” he said.
The Giants and Prairie Pirates will play each other for the third final time this season on June 6 in Lloydminster.
