BRAVES FALL TO ROSALIND ON OPENING DAY

The Rosalind Homerdome lived up to its name as the Athletics used a pair of home runs to defeat the Tofield Braves 5-3 on Opening Day 2017 for the Powerline Baseball League in a game of missed opportunities.

A total of eleven runners would be stranded on the base paths for the Braves, including seven in scoring position as the offence struggled to come up with the big hit against Rosalind right handers Ryan Yuha and Mark Gjesdal. Unable to put together any offence was the story for the Braves who combined for ten ground ball outs and eight fly ball outs and were able to collect only two hits with runners in scoring position. On a positive note the middle of the Braves order provided most of the offence with second baseman Jeremy Leggat (2-4, 2R), third baseman Rob Berrecloth (2-3, 2B, BB) and shortstop Sean Melanson (3-4, 2RBI) combining for seven of the teams ten hits and two of the three runs scored. 

Sean Melanson collects one of his three singles on the afteroon

Braves 3B Rob Berrecloth will go down in the franchise history books as the first player to collect a hit for the team with his second inning single to centre field off of Yuha. Berrecloth would add the franchises first double in the fifth inning when he would take Gjesdal to deep left centre short hopping the fence. Melanson would be named the player of the game for the Braves as he would record three singles including a two RBI single down the third baseline past Tanner Foss bringing home Tom Shulba and Jeremy Leggat to make it a 3-2 game. Melanson was robbed of what would have been a run scoring extra base hit in the fifth inning when he would line a ball to the opposite field right to the glove of Athletics first baseman Clayton Harbak who was playing the line against the right hand hitting Melanson with runners at second and third with no one out. 

The Braves would send the go ahead run to the plate in the top of the seventh but right fielder Kris Kushnerick would line a 2-1 pitch from Gjesdal to former Camrose Axemen teammate Chance Wheatley playing shortstop for the Athletics to end the disapointing Opening Day game for the Braves. 

Jeremy Leggat rounds third and scores the Braves second run of the game

Meanwhile Braves starter Corey Epp would pitch well but get burnt on two pitches for four runs in his complete game loss. In the second inning Athletics right fielder Nic Ronsko would hit a fly ball into the Rosalind jet stream for a three run home run and in the sixth catcher Sheldon Peterson would take a two strike pitch below the knees for a line drive solo home run. After the home run to Ronsko in the second inning, Epp would settle down allowing only one more hit, the home run to Peterson, for the rest of the game while scattering four walks over his six innings of work.  

Corey Epp would get the nod as the Braves Opening Day starter

Tofield will now wait until Thursday May 18 before they are on the field again as they will host the Leduc Milleteers in the Braves 2017 Home Opener. The game will mark the first time that the Powerline Baseball League has had a game at the Tofield Sports Grounds since July 1 2010 when the Ryley Rebels would defeat the Armena Royals 6-1 during the Annual Canada Day Tournament. The last time a team from Tofield played a Powerline Baseball League game at the Sports Grounds was June 22 2010 with, as fate of have it, the Leduc Milleteers defeating the Tofield Lakers 17-3 as three scheduled home games for the Lakers were played in Ryley and Bardo to finish the July schedule. 

First pitch for the Home Opener at the Tofield Sports Grounds is scheduled for 7:00pm.