Axemen knock off Royals in tune-up

The Armena Royals played a solid game, but in the end, the NCABL’s Camrose Axemen found a way to come back and knock off the young Armena squad 6-5 Thursday night in Armena.

Armena kept the Axemen offence at bay by mixing up their pitching arsenal – throwing seven different arms. First Clark Banack, followed by Cody Sroka, Kyle Ellis, Joel Boettger, Lee Palmer, Jason Buzzell and Adam Johnson.

All did an admirable job and look poised to pitch on occasion throughout the season.

For the Axemen, it was a slow start and when they did get hits, they were right at Royals. However, down 5-2 in the seventh, they sparked a rally and moved runners into second and third with two outs.

Pitcher Adam Johnson got a ground ball, but a throwing error by Lee Palmer allowed the go-ahead run to score.

Joel Boettger had a chance to tie the game in the seventh with a runner on third, but grounded out to second to end the contest.

“I was really happy with what I saw tonight,” said Armena player-coach Clark Banack. “We only made a couple errors and put the ball in play.”

Getting hits for the Royals were Steve Bergstrom 1-for-4, Boettger 1-for-3, Tyler Olafson 1-for-3, Buzzell 2-for-2, Ben Lyseng 1-for-3 and Banack 1-for-2.

The Royals open their 2009 season Tuesday against the Camrose Roadrunners in Armena. Game time is 7 p.m.

Posted on May 8, 2009 by Jason Buzzell