Midget Royals Open Hammond Stadium with Walk-off Win
Posted May 23, 2015
On Saturday the Midget AAA Royals had the honour of playing the first ever game in the new Hammond Stadium. The game featured a match-up of two old rivals, the Ridge Meadows Royals and the Tri-City Indians.
Chris Bailey got the ball for the Royals and threw 6 solid innings allowing only two runs. The Royals jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a run in the home half of the first inning. The Indians tied the game a few innings later. The Royals took a 2-1 lead, only to have the Indians again tie it up. In the bottom of the 6th inning, the home team was able to plate two runs which looked like it might be enough to win. However, reliever Seth Injates, on to pitch the 7th, walked the first two batters, who both came around to score and tied the game at 4-4.
The Royals had a great chance to win the game in the bottom half of the 7th after Nick Peters led off the inning with a triple. However, the next three Royals' hitters failed to get the ball out of the infield, stranding the winning run 90 feet away. The Royals again had a chance to score in the bottom of the 8th, but a lead-off was again wasted. In the bottom of the 9th, first baseman Domenic Baptista led off with a sharp single through the right side. The next batter, Peters, crushed a ball to deep left-centre field that allowed pinch-runner Santiago Torres to score the game-winning run.
The back-and-forth game, filled with excitement and suspense, was a great way to open the new Hammond Stadium. The Royals, now 13-2 and still in first place, will take on the second place Chilliwack Cougars on Wednesday at Hammond. First pitch goes at 7pm.
