RYLEY ROLLS INTO FIRST PLACE

The 9-4 Armena Royals came into Ryley looking to potentially move into first place and claim the PBL Pennant in 2014 but were side swiped by a Rebels team which after the 8-3 win over the Royals, are the owners of a five game winning streak. In May it was the Royals who walked away from the diamond victorious as they were able defeat Scott Koughan and the Rebels 11-6. It was a hazy night at Ryley Ballpark as the air quality kept what could have been one of the biggest crowds of the season, down to a dedicated few from both teams. 

Win - Scott Koughan (3-2)

Loss - Lyndon Galvin

Looking for revenge against the Royals and coming off a 15-0 win against the Beaumont Angels on July 8 in which he would surrender only a pair of singles and face the minimum of fifteen batters, Scott Koughan was sent to the hill to keep the train moving for the Rebels as they have been skyrocketing up the PBL standings. In his last start vs the Royals, Koughan would be tagged with a total of ten Armena singles and a triple as the Royals would score eight runs (five earned) against the former Fort Saskatchewan Athletics pitcher. While the Royals would once again put up double digit hits (ten singles and a pair of doubles) it would be clutch pitching by Koughan to get outs when the Royals had runners on base as he would strand a total of nine runners on base, four of which were left in scoring position. 

While the Rebels defence struggled to field a ball on Monday night in Beaumont on the hard field of Four Seasons Park, the familiar hard surface of the Ryley Ballpark was much more kind to the home town club. A pair of errors in the third inning behind Koughan would lead to a pair of Royals runs and it wasn't until the seventh inning that the Royals would begin to finally square up the veteran right hander with back to back doubles by CF Zenan Sherbaniuk and 1B Doug Morris would lead to the Royals third and final run of the game. 

Opposing Koughan was Lyndon Galvin of the Armena Royals. It was the first time that the Rebels would face the lanky right hander and it didn't take long for them to generate some offence. In the first inning with one out the Rebels would get two runners into scoring position as C Chad Nelson and 1B Craig Koughan would reach base on a single and a walk respectively. After a line drive out off the bat of SS Dylan Solberg, Galvin would wiggle out of the inning as Nelson would get caught in a run down between third and home to end the inning. But the bats would come out strong in the second inning to put the Rebels up 2-0 early. Back to back singles to lead off the inning by 3B Shawn Pilgaard and 2B Brian Tavaroli eventually turned into a pair of runners in scoring position on RF Kevin Reinholt's ground out to 1B Doug Morris. With two out, Rebels LF Corey Epp would clutch up with a single through the middle to score both Nelson and Koughan.

After the teams would trade scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth as Koughan and Galvin settled down and got some big plays by their respective defences behind them. The defensive play of the game may have been the running catch made by CF Zenan Sherbaniuk on a deep shot to the left centre gap off of the bat of 1B Craig Koughan to end the Rebels fifth inning. In retrospect the fifth inning was a telling sign that Galvin may have been figured out by the Rebels hitters as out number one was a line drive to centre field off the bat of CF Tom Shulba, out two was a hard ground ball that 2B Cole Tomaszewski would make a fine pickup right on the lip of the outfield grass and out three on the deep shot by Koughan. With outs now becoming hard it balls it was only a matter of time before they would begin to fall for hits and it happend to Galvin in the very next inning. 

SS Dylan Solberg would connect on a line drive ground rule double over the head of LF David Ritz to lead off the sixth inning for the Rebels. The ball absolutely rocketed off the bat of Solberg and gave Ritz very little time to take a good position to make a catch. 3B Shawn Pilgaard would earn a walk to put two runners on base, but during the at bat would hit another rocket into foul territory off the roofless Ryley batting cage. The Rebels would take the lead for good on another hard hit ball but this time the Ryley Ballpark wouldn't contain it. 2B Brian Tavaroli would connect on a Galvin fastball and rip it off the slopitch diamond bleachers in left centre for a three run home run, the Rebels second home run of the season with both being three run dingers. The home run would end the night for Galvin and deflat the typcially loud Royals onfield cheerleading squad as manager/DH Clark Banack would turn to Ian Sherbaniuk out of the pen.

Clearly crushed by the Tavaroli home run, Sherbaniuk would have a rough two thirds on an inning as he would surrender another three runs to the Rebels. RF Kevin Reinholt would hit a chopper to Tomaszewski who would then get handcuffed and bobble the ball. With the ball sitting slightly behind him and with teammates yelling to pick it up, Tomaszewski wasn't able to focus in and pick up the ball in time as the throw to first would be late with Reinholt running down the line. The knuckleball pitching Sherbaniuk would finally get the first out of the inning on a strikeout of Scott Koughan but hitting LF Corey Epp in the leg and walking C Chad Nelson would eventually lead to 1B Craig Koughan coming to bat against maybe his favorite pitchers to hit against. Once again Koughan would come out on top as he would connect on a two RBI bases clearing double to put the Rebels up 8-3 and seal the teams fifth win in a row. 

With the win, the Rebels now find themselves sitting atop the PBL standings with a 9-4 record while the Royals fall to 9-5 along with the 9-5 Holden Blue Jays. Thursday night will see two games which will decide the final standings as the PBL season comes to an end with the Bardo Athletics travelling to Beaumont to take on the Angels and the Leduc Milleteers travelling to Ryley. A Rebels win against the Milleteers, regardless of the Bardo/Beaumont outcome will secure the pennant for the Rebels, the franchises first since re-joining the league in 2009. A loss by the Rebels and a win by Bardo will see the Angels miss the playoffs while a loss by the Rebels and a win by the Angels will send the PBL into the rule book to determine the appropriate way to break a five way tie for only four playoff spots as each team would be sitting at 9-5. 

The Rebels will focus on what they can control, which will be what fans are expecting to be an intense game against the Milleteers who will be in win or go home mentality as a loss will send them to 8-6 and essentially end their season. Should the Rebels be able to defeat the five time PBL Champion Millteers, it might be seen as some small redemption as the Milleteers have repeatedly knocked the Rebels out of the playoffs. In 2009 and 2011 it was first round sweeps by the Millteers while 2010 was a sweep in the PBL Championship. While knocking out the Millteers would please Rebels fans, it is a long ways away form a PBL Championship in what historians have called the most competive season in modern PBL history. The game is scheduled for 7:00pm at the Ryley Ballpark and the league is hoping that the forecast is off base as thunderstorms are expected in the region throughout the afternoon and evening. Fans can check the Rebels Twitter feed for updates on the status of the game.