The Meadow Lake Sox pose for a team picture, with championship plaque, following their gold medal performance in Hanley. (Facebook/Meadow Lake Sr. White Sox)

By Martin Martinson

Top of the Mountain

Meadow Lake Sox take provincial gold in Hanley

Aug 9, 2021 | 3:00 PM

The Meadow Lake Sox senior baseball team are provincial champs.

The Sox took home a Senior AA Tier 4 Provincial Championship in Hanley over the weekend, located just 45 minutes south of Saskatoon.

Player-coach with the Sox, Kevin Gerwing said the team played their best ball when it counted most, really hitting their groove as the weekend progressed, after a bit of a hiccup early in the tournament.

Following a big 6-0 victory in their opener versus the Arcola Threshers, the Sox were quick to face some adversity, falling 17-2 to the Pasquia Angels in their second game.

“That kind of gave us a little bit of a wakeup call,” Gerwing said. “From there on out I think we played our best ball and won our next three games to win the championship. The bats came alive and we got fantastic pitching, as I believe we played error-free ball the rest of the way.”

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The Sox regrouped to beat the host team from Hanley later in the day 17-5, and Northeast Blues 5-4 in a tightly-contested matchup to book their ticket to the gold medal game.

Playing likely their best baseball of the season, Meadow Lake then topped Arcola for the second time on the weekend, this time 20-2, to stake their claim at the top of the podium.

Left to right: Brothers Dylan and Brett Esau played a key role for the hometown Sox on their way to a provincial gold medal. (Submitted photo/Dylan Esau)

The Sox scored four home runs in their final game including two from local Alex Vidal, a bomb from NSRBL MVP nominee, Brett Esau to center field, and another by Dustin Mcnab who was picked up from the Mervin Flyers.

On the mound, Gerwing said it was Battlefords North Stars standout, Dylan Esau who led the way defensively, and allowed the team to build their lead the way they did on their way to victory.

“Dylan Esau came in, and he’s really developed into our ace this year,” Gerwing said. “He was awesome on the mound and really shut them down throughout the game.”

(Dylan) Esau said it was a weekend to remember.

“It was a fun weekend; we had a really good group of guys and we were able to string it together a few games to get the win, so it was a good time,” he said. “I’m just glad I could pitch well through the weekend and shut it down in the final game. The team made it kind of easy on me as they hit really well, so it was just a fun time all around.”

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1