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Medicine Hat All-Stars edged out by Lethbridge Sunday

Aug 7, 2017 | 1:31 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A back and forth thriller at Lovell McDonnell Park on Sunday night, as two rivals took to the diamond at the 2017 Canadian Little League National Championships.

It was a battle to two 1-2 teams, with the host Medicine Hat All-Stars facing off against Lethbridge Southwest Little League.

Medicine Hat swung the bats early, posting a 6-0 lead after the first inning capped off by a Ben Van Der Sloot grand-slam.

The Lethbridge squad flexed their offensive muscles as well, with a Riley Pearce home run kick starting a six-run inning to knot the game up at 6-6 heading to the second.

A double from Jeff Bullock put Medicine Hat back on top 7-6, however a number of wild pitches from starter Wyatt Bishop allowed three Lethbridge runs to cross the plate and make it a 9-7 game.

With the score 10-9 in the fourth inning, Van Der Sloot scored off a wild Lethbridge pitch to bring the score back to even.

The turning point came in inning number five, with a Medicine Hat pass ball allowing Lethbridge’s Corbin Roberts to score, which would end up being the final score.

Brett Getz was tagged with the loss for Medicine Hat, allowing three earned runs on six hits against over three and one-third innings.

Van Der Sloot led the All-Stars with four RBIs on the night, and was also 2-4 at the plate. Bullock, Stone Davis, Cade Harrison, and Marek Schlenker also drove in runs for Medicine Hat.

Seeing their record fall to 1-3 at Nationals, the All-Stars now sit in sixth place in the overall standings with Team BC leading the way at 4-0.

No rest for the wicked for Medicine Hat, as they return to the diamond on Monday afternoon against Ontario’s Port Arthur Nationals.

Opening pitch at Strathcona Island Park is planned for 2:00 pm.