The Weyburn Beavers and Okotoks Dawgs combined for 14 runs in the first five innings Tuesday night, then the Beavers held on to pick up the 10-8 win, improving to 27-9 on the season, and extending their lead for first in the East Division to five games.

The Beavers were led by Keaton Greenwalt and Tyler Scott, who had two RBI each. One of those runs for Greenwalt was a home run in the fourth inning.

The scoring predominantly came in the early innings. Okotoks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the top of the first, then the Beavers replied with a strong inning of their own.

Greenwalt brought in Corey Wheaton with a single towards first base. Greenwalt was then brought in by Drake Pilat, who smacked a single to centre. Another single, this time from Wade Weinberger, brought Pilat home, and Nolan Machibroda rounded out the scoring with a single to right which cashed in Omar Prieto.

The scoring continued in the bottom of the third, as the Beavers expanded their lead.

Tyler Scott hit a double to centre which brought in Weinberger and Machibroda. Wheaton then scored Scott with a single to centre. The run would end the night for Okotoks starting pitcher Cameron Doherty, who gave up 14 hits and seven runs in just 2 ⅔ innings.

The Beavers would extend the lead to 8-3 in the bottom of the fourth, as Greenwalt put his fifth homer of the season out of the park.

The Dawgs weren’t ready to quit yet, though. They would rally to put up three runs of their own in the top of the fifth inning, starting with a two-RBI single from Abdiel Alicea, followed up by an RBI single from Richard Mascarenas.

The end of the fifth also spelt the end of the night for Beavers starting pitcher Ryan Johnson. The veteran hurler struck out just two over the course of five innings, an uncharacteristically low number for the Winnipeg native. He was replaced for the start of the sixth inning by Brodie Stairs.

Stairs pitched the sixth inning, striking out one, before giving way to Christian Rivera for the seventh. Rivera would be pulled, though, after loading the bases thanks to a double and two walks in the first three batters he faced.

Dalton Ross would come on to finish out the inning and was on the mound when pinch-hitter Ryan Humeniuk hit a double to centre which scored two runs, after getting the first two outs of the inning. The third out came one great defensive play with Felix Correa getting the ball to catcher Omar Prieto in time to get the third out at home plate.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Beavers regained their lead. With runners on first and third and one out, Prieto hit the ball to short. It looked like a simple double play which would have ended the innings, but it was bobbled, allowing Prieto to reach first, Pilat second, and Keaton Greenwalt to home plate.

The next batter, Wade Weinberger, was walked, and a fielder's choice with Cam Williams at the plate would score Pilat, making it a 10-8 game.

Eric Evans came on the mound to close out the game for the Beavers, earning his seventh save of the season, and 23rd of his career.

The Beavers will be back on the diamond Wednesday night. They travel to Yorkton to face the Cardinals.

You can read more about the Beavers on the Discover Weyburn Beavers page.