The Moose Jaw Major AAA All-Stars came up just short in their opening game at provincials on Tuesday night, falling 9-8 in a heartbreaker against the Regina Kiwanis Nationals.

Max Simmons, Brendan Gerbrandt, Aiden MacDonald and Nathan Pisio scored two runs each in the loss for Moose Jaw.

Moose Jaw scored three runs in the second inning to take a 3-2 lead after two. They extended that lead to 4-2 in the fourth before the Nationals scored three runs in the top of the fifth to take a 5-4 lead.

The All-Stars struck back with one run in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game, but the Nationals' offence stayed hot in the sixth, scoring four runs to put the pressure on Moose Jaw, who answered with three runs, but couldn’t find the equalizer.

Moose Jaw will try to bounce back when they square off with the Regina North All-Stars on Wednesday night in the Queen City. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m.