Royals still searching for right recipe

The Armena Royals haven’t put a package of the three key baseball ingredients together for any of their 8 games this season: Pitching, defense and hitting.

Yet the team must be somewhat satisfied to have won three games somehow and been in every ball game for the most part.

Camrose game: Ian Sherbaniuk struggled early on the hill and hitting was non-existent in the opener until the final frame. But the defence was almost perfect. The offense woke up in the last inning but it was too little, too late.

Bardo games: The hitting was on, but the defence wasn’t shabby in most. Luckily, the pitching from Adam Johnson, Cody Sroka and the duo of Sherbaniuk/Boettger helped the slugfests end in Armena wins. Still, something seemed a bit off on the defensive side of the ball at times.

Holden games: Jason Buzzell tired in the sixth and the Blue Jays came back after the defence and hitting were stellar. In the second half of the home-and-home, the offense sputtered whilst the defence made a few key errors and the pitching of Kyle Ellis was wild early on. 

Leduc games: Buzzell’s pitching cost them an early lead in game one when the bats were going. By the time Landon Miller and Cole Tomaszewski righted the ship and the defence stopped making errors, the offense went to sleep. In game two, the offense continued its slumber while the defence coughed up balls left and right for five errors. Then, when the offense woke, a base-running blunder ended the game with the tying run coming to the plate.

It all looks somewhat similar, but at the same time, a bit different for the Armena Royals in 2012. When the infield of Ian Sherbaniuk, Cole Tomaszewski, Clark Banack, Adam Johnson and Landon Miller are in their correct positions, things seem to be solid. Johnson looks like an absolute all-star at shortstop most nights. The offense has the potential for the first time in half a decade to put together multi-run innings. 

The biggest questions is pitching. Joel Boettger is close to making his first start, which is a huge pickup for the team. Johnson and a currently-ailing Cody Sroka have looked good in their starts. Miller, Ellis and Tomaszewaki looked good in their relief performances this week. That still leaves Sherbaniuk, who won the only two games last year for the Royals, as another resource.

Can this committee find a groove and match it with some offense and defence for three or four more wins in the final seven? It’s up the Royals to keep believing in themselves and prove the naysayers wrong.

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Jason Buzzell