Milleteers Take Exhibition Double Dip

The Milleteers went into Ryley to face the newly resurrected Ryley Rebels in a double header in their first exhibition game action of the year. The Rebels were the dominant franchise in the Powerline Baseball League in the 1990s, but folded a few years ago. They are now back and have a good mix of young and old talent, which should give them a good shot at a playoff birth. Today however belonged to the Milleteers as they out pitched the Rebels in the first game and out slugged them in the second.

The first game featured a strong start from pitcher Steven Pahl who left after four innings with a no-hitter going and had only faced one batter over the minimum. Brad Engel then came in and had a bit of an exciting inning as he first battled wildness and then some very odd fielding adventures before escaping with the lead still intact. Rookie Ryan Walker then came into the game and calmly dispatched the Rebels’ hitters to pick up the save. The offence was driven by table setter and leadoff hitter Greg Jackson as he found ways to get on base and ended up scoring three runs, and Trevor Pahl who chipped in two RBIs.

The second game also featured strong pitching as a combination of Greg Jackson, Murray Doyle, and his brother Kevin Doyle managed to keep the Rebels at bay and combined for a shutout. The offence was helped out early on by some Rebel errors and some stolen bases, then, later in the game the bats woke up. It might be early in the year, or it might be the switch to wood bats, but it took eleven innings of baseball to produce the first extra base hit as Steven Pahl hit a double to the right field wall. Brad Engel than followed up with two more doubles of his own to put the game away.

It was a great day for baseball as the weather cooperated, and there were good performances all around on both offence and defense. The Milleteers hope to keep their winning was going with another scheduled exhibition game on Wednesday with the opponent still unknown, then the regular season opener the Wednesday after that in Leduc against these same Ryley Rebels.

Posted by 4, 2009 by Steven Pahl