Nearly five hours after the game was to start, it finally finished, as the Weyburn Beavers took the first game of their best-of-five WMBL East Division semifinal from the Red Sox by a final of 6-2. Rain delayed the start of the game by roughly ninety minutes, and another thirty-minute delay after the seventh inning saw the activity continue at Tom Laing Park until nearly midnight Tuesday night.

When the game got under way at 8:30 p.m. the Beavers jumped out to an early lead in their half of the first inning. They went through the batting order, starting the rally with two out. Brady Nygaard doubled to left field, cashing in Evan Weidner and Ulysses Fluellen. A wild pitch brought Anthony Wiggins home, and then a double off the wall in dead center by Zach Frazier scored Nygaard and Ty Scott.

“It was good to jump out right ahead and get that 5-0 lead in the first inning, and we really just put it on cruise control after that,” Frazier said after the game.

On the mound, Garrett Waters went seven innings for the Beavers, striking out four, and allowing two runs. He earned the win on the mound, continuing his strong play from the regular season.

With the start of the game delayed as long as it was, Waters wanted to make sure he didn’t start the warm-ups in the bullpen too early. “I just had to make sure I didn’t get ready too soon, and then get cold in the dugout, but the game doesn’t start until the pitcher is ready, so I just went in my own time.”

The Red Sox managed to get on the board in the fourth inning when Griffin Keller brought in Jordan Schulz with a single to center. In the top of the sixth, they scored their second run as Keller once again hit an RBI single to center.

The game was halted for more than 30 minutes in the seventh inning when the rain started up again. The field was tarped, and once it stopped, play resumed. Both teams brought in new pitchers, with Cody Pamperin coming in for the Beavers and Rudy Estrella for Regina.

Pamperin retired the side in the order, while Estrella held off the Beavers from adding to their lead.

In the top of the ninth, Eric Evans finished the game off for the Beavers with two strikeouts.

Game two of the best-of-five series is scheduled for Wednesday night in Weyburn.

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Elsewhere in the WMBL Tuesday:

The Swift Current 57’s rallied back in the ninth inning to beat the Moose Jaw Miller Express 4-3. The 57’s lead the series 1-0.

Medicine Hat and Lethbridge needed ten innings to find a winner in game one of their West Division semi-final. In the end, it was Lethbridge who came out on top, winning 3-2.

Rain shortened the game between the Okotoks Dawgs and the Edmonton Prospects. It was called after just five innings, with Okotoks winning 8-2.