Rebels Defeat A’s In Thriller, Again
Posted June 24, 2009
The Ryley Rebels pulled off another come from behind victory against the rival Bardo Athletics on Tuesday night, beating them 5-2 in Ryley in a game taking less then 90 minutes to complete. The win, combined with a Leduc loss, moves the Rebels closer to second place and makes for another great match up on Wednesday as the Rebels visit Leduc to take on the Milleteers.
The game saw Rebels RHP Curt Stensrud go up against the Athletic’s RHP Don Oslund, and it was a beauty of a match up. Both pitchers threw well as Stensrud threw a complete game 4 hitter to Oslund’s complete game 6 hitter. The Rebels however were able to capitalize on the few hits they did get as well as a couple of key errors committed by Bardo.
Rebel batters had a tough go at the start as the Bardo battery of Oslund and C Ray Lehman proved to be on top of their game for most of the night as Ray called a great game and Oslund made his pitches. But, in the 6th inning the solid foundation of the Bardo defense began to crack. Rebels CF Josh Lyons was able to smack a single up the middle and two batters later 2B Kyle Reinholt drove him in with a triple, his second hit of the game, Bardo leads 2-1. Stensrud reached on a throwing error to A’s second baseman Ryan Olsen and Reinholt was able to sneek in to score, game tied 2-2. 3B Brian Tavaroli was hit with a Oslund knuckleball, much to the dismay of the Bardo Athletics as they felt Tavaroli stepped in to one much like a young Roger Dorn would do. C Bryan Toles laid down a sac bunt to move the runners to second and third for slugging SS Dylan Solberg. It was an at bat that looked like Oslund was trying to stay away from the power of Solberg, thus loading the bases on a walk for 1B Travis Bugge. Bugge had been hitting Oslund hard all night and came through big with a broken bat flare to left cashing in Stensrud and Tavaroli while moving Solberg to third and Bugge to second. There was a heated moment involving Solberg’s slide into third base as Bardo SS Mike Leclair was vocal with the base ump saying that Solberg was out. Have a brief back and forth with the ump Leclair found himself tossed from the game and the Rebels up 4-2. Solberg would later come in to score on a throwing error by Lehman as he tried to pick off Solberg at third base. 5-2 Rebels.
In a great baseball moment, Bardo Athletic Brent Beattie, who came in to replace the ejected Mike Leclair, received a warm applause from the 20 or so fans in attendance. Beattie of course is a local resident who had spent many years with the Ryley Brewers before moving to Bardo with the folding of the Brewer franchise this winter.
The Rebels will play back to back nights, as they take on the Leduc Milleteers Wednesday night in Leduc, where it is expected that RHP Dylan Solberg will take the mound for the surging Ryley Rebels as they look to close in on 2nd place.
Posted on June 24, 2009 by Kris Kushnerick
