Two home runs from Jordan Schulz powered the Regina Athletics past the Midget AAA Devons 9-3 on Wednesday night at Ross Wells Park.  The National Junior team member out of Strasbourg went 2-for-3 with two homers, three runs and two RBIs.

Just like on Tuesday night against the Saskatoon Cubs, the Devons kept the game close through the first couple innings, but a big four-run fourth inning for A’s allowed them to pull away.  

“We came out trying to keep it close and that’s been the game plan against some of the higher competition in our league, but we just let it get away from us in the middle innings,” said Devons head coach Don Anderson.

Dalton Kaake got the start for the Devons and lasted 3.1 innings, giving up seven earned runs on eight hits, while striking out two and walking three.  Anderson says Kaake’s breaking ball just wasn’t working, “His curveball was flatting out and he was getting behind on a lot of their hitters, especially in the middle part of their lineup, and you can’t do that with most teams in this league, let alone the A’s.

“Kaake was maybe a little nervous pitching against a good hitting like the A’s and Jordan Schulz in the lineup, a Team Canada player.”

Regina opened the scoring in the top of the first, but the Devons answered in the bottom half with a sacrifice fly from Bryce Crosbie to make it 1-1.  Moose Jaw would take the lead in the second, 2-1, but it was all Athletics after that.  Schulz tied the game with his fourth home run of the season as part of a four-run third inning and then the A’s scored three more in the fourth.  Schulz capped off the game with an absolute blast over the right field fence in the sixth to make it 9-3.

Anderson says he was happy with how his team battled in the early innings, “The kids were resilient that way and we didn’t give up at-bats early in the game, we seemed to give them up late in the game for some reason, but we’ve just got to be ready to compete for seven innings, on the mound, at the plate and in the field.”

The 2-for-3 night puts Schulz’s average at a league leading .581 on the year, he’s also well ahead in home runs (5) and RBIs (26).  He also pitched a perfect seventh inning in relief.

In the second game the Regina scored five in the first, five in the second, and four in the fourth and went on to beat the Devons 14-1 in five innings.  Schulz continued to tear up Moose Jaw pitchers, going 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI's, and two runs scored.

Left fielder Mark Romanow was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Ryan Filyk was 2-for-4 with three RBI's.  Moose Jaw's only hits came off the bats of Dalton Kaake and Kalen Huber.

Devons starter Keagan Francis lasted 2/3 of the first inning, giving up five runs on three hits while walking three.  Jonathon Brooks and Huber worked 3 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, allowing nine runs on nine hits while walking five and striking out one.

Moose Jaw will take Thursday off, Friday they head to Medicine Hat for a weekend tournament.