The Moose Jaw Mallards finished their season over the weekend with a semifinal loss at the Baseball Saskatchewan Bantam AA Tier 2 Provincials in Macklin.

The Mallards went 2-1 in the round robin, but fell short, losing 4-3 in walk-off fashion to the Muenster Red Sox in the semifinal on Sunday morning.

"I was really happy with the boys, they performed very well, as they have all year," said Mallards head coach Curtis O’Reilly. "They've faced adversity a number of times throughout the season, never quit, always keep battling and lots of times during the season, they battled back and won the game, but this time they just weren't quite able to get it done and that's alright."

Provincials opened with the Mallards rolling to a 12-1 win over the host Macklin Lakers on Friday. They followed that up with a 13-6 loss to the Parkland Expos and a 5-1 win over the Humboldt Dodgers on Saturday.

Moose Jaw held a 3-0 lead after four innings in the semifinal against Muenster, but the Red Sox mounted a big comeback for the win.

"We measure our success by how much we develop and the boys got 100-percent right across the board in that regard," said O’Reilly.

"You always want to win the last game of the year and we didn't, so that's a little tough, but it's never been all about winning and losing, but more about building some resilience on the mental side for the young athletes and we took great steps that way."

The Mallards posted a 26-16-1 record overall this season and O’Reilly said that their biggest accomplishment was the fact that the players grew into more complete ball players throughout the season.

"They got a better understanding of both mechanics that each individual needs to execute in their role, but also tactics and strategy -- why we do what we do, where we go with the ball, what we're trying to do at the plate, and what result we're looking for -- and the boys have really grown in that regard," said O’Reilly.

There will be seven players from this year’s team that will graduate up to the midget level next season, while five players will be eligible to return to the Mallards next season.

"Those five returning will be the leaders of the next version of the Mallards and will take the younger ones under their wing and take a step forward from where we were able to get this year," said O’Reilly.