The North Battleford Beavers beat the Standard Hill Lakers 18-5 in Game 2 on Tuesday night. (Submitted Photo/Andrew Hudec)

By Austin Mattes

NSRBL Playoffs

Beavers dominate Lakers to force Game 3

Jul 23, 2025 | 3:56 PM

The North Battleford Beavers had a big bounce back on Tuesday night, erupting for eight runs in the first inning and never looking back in an 18–5 mercy-rule win over the Standard Hill Lakers in Game 2 of their North Saskatchewan River Baseball League (NSRBL) semi-final series.

After an 8–7 loss in extra innings in Game 1, the Beavers entered the must-win contest in enemy territory and delivered a complete performance.

“It was definitely a nice bounce back after a hard-fought battle for game one, losing in two extra innings,” said Beavers player/coach Kyle Gregoire. “It was backs against the wall, but we did what we wanted to do there.”

Gregoire led by example at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a home run, while teammate Gavin Nolin was a perfect 5-for-5 and also pitched all five innings on the mound, allowing five earned runs and getting multiple strikeouts. Kyle Palmer added three hits of his own as the Beavers offence fired on all cylinders.

“Everybody was batting really well after the first inning got us going,” Gregoire said. “We knew that we had to hold on to the lead. I think the biggest thing is when we had guys on base, we were able to execute, versus the last game where we had at least four times, if not more, where guys were on base and we weren’t able to bring them in.”

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Standard Hill was forced to pull their starting pitcher early, and the Beavers kept up the pressure with steady scoring in each inning until the game was called after five due to the league’s mercy rule.

Nolin’s complete game outing was not only effective, but strategic. “We only had to go five innings, so he definitely saved our arms going into the next game,” said Gregoire. “So, everybody’s fresh and we’re just ready to do what we know we can do there. It should be an exciting game for fans to come out and watch, and hopefully we get some good weather for it.”

Game 3 is set for Thursday, July 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Beavers Lions Stadium in North Battleford. The winner moves on to the NSRBL Finals.

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austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes