The ice packs were out in full force on Monday after a busy weekend on the local ball diamonds for the Moose Jaw Athletics.

Moose Jaw hosted the 2017 Baseball Saskatchewan Twilite Maxi 35+ Championship with 26 teams from across Saskatchewan coming to the Friendly City for a throwback weekend to the glory days.

The host Athletics put together a strong showing as they advanced into the ‘A’ final before falling to the Saskatoon Athletics, 6-4, at Ross Wells Park on Sunday.

“It was fun to come out and play, I haven’t played for many years, so it was fun to come hit the ball around,” said outfielder Tyson Daly.

Moose Jaw went 2-0 in the round robin, beating Carnduff, 9-2, on Friday and then up ending Mossbank, 10-0, on Saturday.

They secured a spot in the A side playoffs with a comeback win over Wawota on Saturday evening and then came from behind again in the semifinal on Sunday morning to knock off Regina.

“We were down 4-0 last inning two outs and came back to score four runs, take it into extras and won the game,” said Daly on the Saturday night’s win. “We just stayed positive, we were down, didn’t worry about it, just came back and scored some runs.”

The Moose Jaw Athletics. (Photo: Marc Smith)

There was some stellar ball being played throughout the weekend as teams looked to take home the provincial crown, but for many it was more about hitting the field again for some competitive action.

“You play ball growing up, it’s a great time and you get to come out here and have fun for a whole weekend,” said Athletics outfielder Rob Zoerb. “We had great weather, good guys, good camaraderie, that’s what it’s all about when you’re this age.”

The Moose Jaw team was a combination of players from teams in the local men’s league that plays weekly at Ross Wells.

They came together for the weekend and put together a great effort.

“We played great ball, we had a spectacular comeback against Wawota, it was good,” said Zoerb.

In the final, Moose Jaw fell down 4-0 in the first inning and battled for the rest of the game to tie things up in the fifth inning, but Saskatoon answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and the Athletics went down in order in the sixth to end the game.

“That’s baseball,” said Zoerb. “This weekend was a lot of fun, I talked to some guys on the other teams and they had a great time.”

The provincial champion Saskatoon Athletics after their win in the final over the Moose Jaw Athletics on Sunday at Ross Wells Park. (Photo: Marc Smith)