After the Brandon Marlins beat the Pembina Valley Orioles, that would set up a tiebreaker game at the Western Canadian Junior AAA Baseball Championships in Weyburn, as there was a three-way tie for top spot in the round robin.

Brandon, Pembina Valley, and the Alberta representatives, the South Jasper Place Jays, were all at 3-1. In the end, it was Pembina Valley taking on South Jasper Place in the tiebreaker, which the Jays took by a final of 7-5.

Using a formula looking at defensive runs per inning, when playing each other, the Marlins were given the bye right to the finals, setting up a game between the Jays and Orioles to determine who would face Brandon int the gold medal game. The decision itself wasn’t without controversy, either. The Western Canadian Baseball Association had initially said there would not be any tie breaker games played. A quick appeal to the commissioner, though, reversed the decision, setting up the game.

The Orioles would jump out to an early lead against South Jasper Place. They were up 5-0 heading into the fifth inning, when they chose to put in a new pitcher, to save the arm of starter Garrett Virtue, in case he would be called up on in the gold medal game. That decision would prove to be costly, though.

Xander Wieler was the replacement, and the midget-aged pitcher got a little shaken up on the mound, walking three straight batters on twelve pitches. Orioles head coach Chris Moffatt was quick to call for a new pitcher, and MacKenzie Hamm, pitching for the third day in a row, came on to finish things off.

He wasn’t able to get out of the jam without giving up any runs, though, and South Jasper Place tied the game up, with Ryan Poeter, Brett Higgins and Brendan Marshall coming up big for the Jays. In the sixth inning, the Jays would take the lead, with two more runs on the board. South Jasper Place pitcher Scott Gillespie, a call-up for the tournament, was able to hold off the Orioles for the final two frames to earn the win while going the distance.

With the win, the Jays would go on to face the Marlins in the finals Sunday evening. The Orioles would be heading home, while taking the loss, still completing a turnaround season under head coach Chris Moffat, who has only been with the team for a few weeks.