The U11 AA Moose Jaw Canucks pulled away from the Prairie Dogs in last night's cross-town clash between the two baseball teams.

The Canucks ended up winning 15-3 at Gattinger Park, thanks to big first inning for the Canucks.

“We were really aggressive right from the start, getting six runs that first inning and we hit the ball really well,” said Canucks head coach Shane Sowden. “That kind of took the wind out of their sails a little bit, and then we were off to the races. Guys threw strikes and made some nice plays. Sometimes at this level, it comes down to who makes the least amount of errors and who throws the most strikes.”

Sowden said there was a little bit of a buildup leading into the game.

“It was a lot of fun and we’ve been looking forward to playing these guys for some time,” he said. “There’s a lot of buddies, and the fun part is seeing all the kids we had last year and then new kids coming into the program. It’s just fun seeing this age group get stronger.”

Luke Pratte scored three runs for the Canucks in the game, while Ronan Tonge reached base twice for the Prairie Dogs.

Prairie Dogs Head coach Craig Flanagan thinks his team will bounce back.

“They seemed in pretty good spirits when we left the field here,” said Flanagan. “We had a good winning streak going into this game. They’re a good team and we’re a good team. They got us tonight, and our kids were in good spirits and they were excited to get the winning streak going again.”

At the end of the third inning, the Canucks had a slim (for 11U baseball) three-run lead but one run in the fourth and a whole pile more in the fifth helped them pull away from the Prairie Dogs.

Flanagan said it was the first time his team has faced the adversity of being down as much as they were.

“A coach has got to try to keep those kids pumped up, and have positive attitudes to try and get back in the game,” Flanagan said. “Being young kids and that’s the first time that’s happened to us this year, it was a bit of a challenge and the kids got down a little bit.”

The teams continue the rest of their Baseball Regina season next week.