Supers 3-Peat!

For the third consecutive season (2019, 2021,2022) the Canora Supers are the Southeast Senior Baseball League champions. After splitting the first two games of the SESBL best of five final with the Yorkton Marlins, the Supers won game three at home, and subsequently won game four in Yorkton to claim the championship.

Tuesday August 2: Supers 14 Marlins 0 in Canora

The series resumed in Canora after a one week hiatus, but the Supers bats and pitching did not miss a beat as fourteen runs on fourteen hits was more than enough offence for the win.

The offence was kickstarted in the bottom of the first as Travis Mentanko sent a two run moon shot over the left center field fence for a 2-0 lead. The game was blown open in the bottom of the third as the Supers put up seven more runs to put the game out of reach. Mentanko led the way with a pair of home runs and five rbi.  Kody Rock had three hits including a double. Brendon Landstad, Ian Quewezance, and Kholton Shewchuk each recorded a pair of hits. Evan Rostotski, Zach Rakochy, and Sean Kolodziejski each had one hit.

Kody Rock was simply unstoppable on the mound as he tossed the complete game shutout with eighteen strikeouts while allowing only four hits. 

Wednesday August 3: Supers 3 Marlins 0 in Yorkton

After an easy win in game three, the Supers had a much more difficult challenge in game four as the Marlins sent their ace pitcher Tanner Nesbitt to the hill in a do or die game. He was as good as advertised, allowing just three runs on the evening. Unfortunately for the Marlins, the combination of Shewchuk and Rock was a bit better on this night as the Marlins could not push across a run in a 3-0 Supers victory.

Shewchuk started pitching, and gutted out five innings of shutout baseball to pick up the win. The Marlins threatened out of the gate as they loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, but Shewchuk was able to get a two out lineout to center fielder Clay Sleeva to avoid any damage. After that Shewchuk settled down and kept the Marlins at bay. Kody Rock came in relief in the bottom of the sixth and slammed the door on the Marlins while allowing no runs with a pair of strikeouts to pick up the save.

Offence was hard to come by in this game, with the exception of Travis Mentanko who pounded out two double which would have been home runs on most nights on most diamonds. He also used the element of surprise by stealing third base. Clay Sleeva had an rbi single, while Quewezance, Rakochy, Derek Palagian, and Kolodziejski each had a hit apiece.

The victory concludes the Supers 2022 season. Winning three titles in a row is very humbling and rewarding for this group as the majority of the players are born and raised in Canora, and play with a ton of pride. The minor baseball program is doing very well, and the pipeline of players graduating to the Supers over the next several years looks to be very strong. 

We have a good mix of veterans and youth, but as some of the vets step away from the game in the coming years, the team will be in good hands. Every new beginning comes from some others beginning's end.

Special thanks to Mike Spelay for coming out to announce our games. It is not the same atmosphere without Mike at the park. We'd also like to thank Aaron Herriges and the Town of Canora staff for making Al Sapieha Field the premier playing surface in the SESBL. It is truly a treat to play on such a great field. And we can not thank our fans for the support we get each and every season. From the turnout at games, to the positive feedback on facebook and twitter. We could not function without our loyal fans.