Depsite being stuck in a six-game losing streak after opening the year with two straight wins, the Battlefords Trappers were confident that luck would soon be on their side.
The newest team in the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League was rewarded for their patience Tuesday night at Beaver Lions Stadium, as they earned a 5-1 victory over the North Battleford Beavers.
“We played well for seven straight innings tonight, which is something that we haven’t done in a little while,” Trappers outfielder Gavin Nolin said. “We didn’t make any errors, which is always a bonus.
“Even when we were on that losing streak, the boys never got down on themselves. We were confident going into every game that we would have a chance to win it. We didn’t get the outcome all the time but we felt like we were right there.”
The Trappers also felt like they could hang with one of the top scoring offences in the league, especially after a 7-2 loss to the Beavers last Thursday in a game that was closer than the final score showed.
“They won on two swing of the bats that brought in five runs,” Nolin said. “That will hurt you every time.
“We pitched well and played well in that game, but it’s always tough when you give up that many runs in a short amount of time.”
The Trappers opened up the scoring with a pair of runs in the first inning and brought home another run in the second frame to take a 3-0 lead.
The Beavers got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Trappers would extend their cushion with two more runs in top of the fifth frame to round out the scoring.
“Getting those runs early was huge for us, especially as the away team,” Nolin said.
“When you could put the pressure on the home team right away, it’s a good feeling.”
The Trappers also recieved a great pitching performance from Tyrus Thomson, as he struck out four batters in six innings of work.
“He’s had a great year for us,” Nolin said. “This was his first start of the season, but he’s coming out of the bullpen on a regular basis and throwing really well.”
The Beavers, who got their lone run of the game on a single from Jared Inkster, are still in first place in the Albers Division with a 5-3-1 record as they prepare to host the Unity Cardinals at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
“We all know that we aren’t a superstar team, so we’ll have those rough outings every now and then,” Inkster joked. “We had a few errors on defence in this one, which is something we’ve avoided so far this year, so that’s something we need to be better at.”
“We got into a hole early, but this is a game we have to forget about as we prepare to face Unity, as they have a number of really good hitters.
The 3-6 Trappers will also be at home Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. game with the Lloydminster Twins.
