Ben Hosegood rushes to steal second in the third inning. The Marlin’s third-baseman would score off of a Braden Toth single moments later (Gazette photo by Colby Stoesz)
By COLBY STOESZ
The Sask Five AAA 18U Marlins couldn’t stop the bleeding on Sunday, falling 12-2 to the Swift Current Kal Tire 57’s and extending their losing streak to seven games.
The early innings had all the makings of a tightly contested baseball game. After a scoreless first, the 57’s capitalized on an error in second and took a one-run lead.
The Marlins responded in the bottom of the third. After Sask Five’s Houston Koch reached first on a dropped third strike and advanced to third off a Hayden Connor single, he was driven in by a fielder’s choice from Ben Hosegood. A Braden Toth groundball to right field drove the third-baseman home, giving the Marlins a 2-1 lead as they ended the third inning.
Josh Gutek took the mound to start the game for the Marlins, throwing 3 strikeouts, a pair of hits and a pair of walks through 3 innings (Gazette photo by Colby Stoesz)
Unfortunately for the home team, their luck seemed to end there too.
A pitching change at the top of the fourth was followed by a single and three consecutive Marlin errors, allowing two 57’s players to cross the plate.
Two successive outs were followed by a Swift Current triple to right field, and the Marlins quickly found themselves down 2-6 as they switched sides.
While the well had run dry for the Marlins, the floodgates were bursting open for the 57’s. Sask Five made three more pitching changes in an effort to stem the tide as Swift Current added runs on an error in the fifth, singles and a double in the sixth, and another single in the seventh. The game culminated with the 57’s scoring two runs on the Marlins’ seventh error, much to the dismay of local fans.
Swift Current starter Ethan Bailey earned the win with 9 strikeouts over 5.1 innings, allowing 2 runs and even scoring himself off a single in the sixth inning. Marlins’ starter Josh Gutek faced 15 batters in his 3 innings, striking out three, walking two, and giving up two hits.
The Marlins will need to tidy up their play, or else risk extending their losing skid into their coming three-game road trip. They were slated to meet the East Central Red Sox on Tuesday, July 16 in the fifth-last game of their regular season.