Three-peat: Supers win clincher in Yorkton
CANORA – It wasn’t easy, but the Canora Supers wrapped up a “three-peat” by winning their third straight Southeast Senior Baseball League championship on August 3 in Yorkton.
The Supers ended the best-of-five final series in four games with a 3-0 win over the Marlins. But before that, they had to overcome the pesky Langenburg Legends.
Supers eliminate Legends
The Supers faced the Langenburg Legends in a Game 3 winner-take-all clash on July 20 at Al Sapieha Field in Canora.
“The bats were on fire, as was the pitching of Kody Rock in a 10-0 drubbing of the Legends,” according to Greg Andreychuk, player/coach. “The game was tied after the first inning, but the Supers broke it open with five runs in the second. Two more runs in the third, followed by one in the fourth and two in the fifth were more than enough on this night.”
Travis Mentanko led the way on offence for the Supers, driving in three runs with three hits.
Zach Rakochy also had three hits for the winners. Derek Palagian chipped in with two hits, including a two-run single to jumpstart the offence. Sean Kolodziejski and Ian Quewezance also had two hits each, including a Quewezance two-run homer.
“Rock continued his dominant season on the mound, pitching the complete game with 14 strikeouts,” said Andreychuk. “He gave up just three hits as the Legends did not pose a threat on this night.”
With the victory, the Supers advanced to the best-of-five league final series against the Yorkton Marlins.
Champions again!
For the third consecutive season (2019, 2021,2022) the Canora Supers are the Southeast Senior Baseball League champions.
On July 25, the Supers opened the championship series with a 3-0 win over the Marlins in Canora.
“This evening was all about the dominant pitching of Kody Rock,” reported Andreychuk. “He went the complete game on the mound, allowing just five hits and piling up 14 strikeouts for the victory.”
The first inning turned out to be the turning point in this low-scoring battle, according to Andreychuk.
“Lead-off hitter Sean Kolodziejski drew a walk, then Rock drilled a home run over the left field fence to give the Supers a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Rock would also reach base on a single and score on a Kholton Shewchuk sac fly in the bottom of the fifth for an insurance run.”
The next evening the series shifted to Yorkton, which seemed to provide the Marlins with the boost they needed. The host team scored early and often, to outslug the Supers for an 11-5 win to even the series.
“Tanner Denesowych started on the mound for the Supers and just could not find his groove as he gave up three runs in the first inning,” said Andreychuk.
Kholton Shewchuk pitched the following three innings and gave up six more runs. Derek Palagian was on the mound for a scoreless inning, while Shae Peterson finished the game off by allowing two runs.
The offence was able to generate five runs on nine hits, but could not maintain consistency throughout the game. Rakochy led the way with three hits including a double. Travis Mentanko and Kolodziejski each had a pair of hits.
After a one-week hiatus, the series resumed in Canora on August 2. The Supers pitching and offence seemed to thrive with the break, as 14 runs on 14 hits was more than enough in a convincing 14-0 win.
“The offence was kick-started in the bottom of the first inning as Travis Mentanko sent a two-run moon shot over the centre field fence for a 2-0 lead,” described Andreychuk. “The game was blown open in the bottom of the third as the Supers put up seven more runs to put the game out of reach. Mentanko led the way with a pair of home runs and drove in five runs. Kody Rock had three hits including a double. Brendon Landstad, Ian Quewezance, and Kholton Shewchuk each recorded a pair of hits.
“Kody Rock was simply unstoppable on the mound as he tossed his second complete game shutout of the series with 18 strikeouts while allowing only four hits.”
After an easy win in Game 3, the Supers had a much more difficult challenge in Game 4 as the Marlins sent their ace pitcher Tanner Nesbitt to the hill in a do-or-die game the next evening back in Yorkton. He was as good as advertised, allowing just three runs on the evening. Unfortunately for the Marlins, the combination of Shewchuk and Rock was a bit better on this night as the Marlins could not push across a run in a 3-0 Supers victory in what turned out to be the final game of the series.
Shewchuk was the starting pitcher, and gutted out five innings of shutout baseball to pick up the win. The Marlins threatened early as they loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, but Shewchuk was able to get a lineout to centre fielder Clay Sleeva to end the inning without any damage. After that, Shewchuk settled down and kept the Marlins at bay. Kody Rock came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth and slammed the door on the Marlins while allowing no runs with a pair of strikeouts to pick up the save in his two innings of work.
“Offence was hard to come by in this game, with the exception of Travis Mentanko who pounded out two doubles which would have been home runs most nights on most diamonds,” reported Andreychuk. “He also took advantage of the element of surprise by stealing third base.” The victory concludes the Supers 2022 season.
“Winning three titles in a row is very humbling and rewarding for this group as the majority of the players were born and raised in Canora, and play with a ton of pride,” shared Andreychuk. “The minor baseball program is doing very well, and the pipeline of players graduating to the Supers over the next several years looks to be very strong. We have a good mix of veterans and youth, but as some of the vets step away from the game in the coming years, the team will be in good hands.
“Special thanks to Mike Spelay for coming out to announce our games. It is not the same atmosphere without Mike at the park. We'd also like to thank Aaron Herriges and the Town of Canora staff for making Al Sapieha Field the premier playing surface in the SESBL. It is truly a treat to play on such a great field. And we cannot thank our fans enough for the support we get each and every season, from the turnout at games, to the positive feedback on Facebook and Twitter. We could not function without our loyal fans,” concluded Andreychuk.
