Weyburn Beavers’ catcher Robert Gurney is the new franchise standard, becoming the first player in team history to hit for a cycle as part of Tuesday’s win over the Swift Current 57’s. Led by Gurney’s four-hit, four-RBI effort, the Beavers cruised to a 21-2 win over the host 57’s at Mitchell Field. Gurney served as the line-up’s seven hitter, getting six plate appearances on the night. The game did not begin the way a cycle traditionally does. He got his first at bat in the second inning, but he popped out in foul territory to the first basemen. Leading off the third, he flied out to centre field. However, the 57’s pitching staff would not keep him off base the rest of the night. With one out in the fifth inning and no one on base, Gurney homered deep to left field off a pitch from righty Gavin Lippa, giving Weyburn an 8-2 lead at the time. It was his fifth homerun of the season. Gurney would come back to the plate in the sixth and rope a single into left. He got three-quarters of the way through the feat with an RBI double in the seventh. Triples, however, are harder to get. The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) leader in three-base hits has just four in 41 games this season. Needing the hardest piece of history, down to his final at-bat of the night in the eighth, Gurney drove a ball to the gap in right-centre field. As he rounded second base with his teammates cheering loud from the dugout, he trotted standing up into third to become the first player in Beavers’ history to hit for the cycle. The two RBI hit put the final nail into Swift Current’s coffin, concluding the 21-2 win. The Maryville State University product was already an all-time Weyburn great, spending the past four WCBL seasons with the Beavers. Gurney has racked up 116 hits, 24 2B, one 3B – which he hit Tuesday, 11 HRs and 76 RBIs in 155 career games with the Beavers. Through 41 games, Weyburn clings onto the final playoff position in the WCBL’s East Division with a 17-24 record – just one game ahead of Medicine Hat (17-26) in fifth.
