Dbacks defeat Elks

Dale Woodard Lethbridge Herald sports@lethbridgeherald.com

The Lethbridge Elks experienced a little bit of everything during the second-last day of the Mary Oikawa Memorial Tournament Saturday at Spitz Stadium.

The Elks blanked the Saskaton Cubs 8-0, but were handed their first setback of the tournament with an 8-5 loss to the Saskatoon Diamondbacks in their second game of the day.

The day-ending loss snaps the Elks six-game winning streak and puts the team at 3-1 on the tournament, but isn’t enough to keep the tournament hosts out of the gold medal game when Lethbridge faces the Calgary Redbirds in the final at 2:30 p.m. today at Spitz Stadium.

In the Elks first game Saturday, pitchers Tevin Hall and Raleigh Ferbey combined for a no-hitter as Hall threw four innings and struck out eight to earn the win and Ferbey came in and mopped up the final two innings with some shutout ball and one strikeout.

“Hall has been strong for us all season,” said Elks head coach Scott Oikawa. “So it was nice to see him and Raleigh team up for that.”

Eric Davies led the Elks at the plate in the win, going 2-for-4 with four RBIs and one triple.

Lethbridge’s six-game winning clip was snapped in their second game of the day as the Diamondbacks posted the 8-5 decision.

“We struggled a bit defensively,” said Oikawa.

Wyatt Tomalty took the loss for the Elks, while Shawn Grandmont and Kyle Bloor were each 2-for-4.

The Elks now face the Redbirds with first place on the line and a rematch from Friday’s game when the Elks posted a close 2-1 win with a walkoff hit in the bottom of the seventh.

“Hopefully we can come out with a strong game,” said Oikawa.

In other action Saturday, the East Central Bulls defeated the Diamondbacks 5-4, but lost 5-4 to the Cubs in the afternoon.

In the 5 p.m. game Saturday, the Redbirds blanked the Medicine Hat Monarchs 2-0.

The Bulls take on the Cubs in the first game at 9:30 a.m., followed by the Monarchs and Diamondbacks at noon before the gold medal between the Elks and Redbirds.