Midget Indians Earn Another Silver at Westerns

The old cliché "always the bridesmaid but never the bride" has been fitting for the Swift Current Midget Indians this season.

They reached the finals of the Western Canada Baseball Championships for the second year in a row on Sunday in Swift Current, but dropped a 9-4 decision to the Rock Lake Regals from Manitoba to pick up another silver medal. The Tribe lost in the final at Provincials in July, and were defeated by Brandon in last year's Western Canada Championship final, also in Swift Current.

"It's tough... there's not much you can say after that, really," said Indians Coach Brennan Peterson. "We had one bad inning late in the game where we just couldn't seem to get that third out, and that ended up costing us. It sucks, and it's going to sting for a while, but we'll move on."

Peterson says as heartbreaking as this loss is, it's still a tremendous feat to get to the finals at both of the Western Canada Championship tournaments on their home field.

"To get to the final two years in a row, it's great," he added. "You'd like to win that game, because it really hurts to lose that game. It's nice to be there, but it would be a little better to just come home with that gold medal."

Peterson says three players; Reid Fritzke, Jordan Greutzner and Darby Crozier; will graduate from the team, and adds he's excited about making another run next year, even though the road to Westerns will be a little tougher with the next two tournaments being hosted in Alberta.

"We're really going to miss those three that are moving on, because they were great players for us, I had a blast coaching them and they worked hard for us," he added. "The strides they made this year in learning and their play on the field was fun to watch, and if we can keep making games like that again next year, I don't see why we couldn't compete for a championship."

Manitoba nearly pulled off a sweep in the tournament, as the Winkler Diamond Dogs beat Weyburn 2-1 in the Bantam final, but the Duncan RiverCats from British Columbia defeated the Altona Bisons 14-0 to claim the Pee Wee Championship.

The Bantam Indians were winless in four games at the tournament, and the Pee Wees finished with a 1-and-3 record.