Lakers continue spoiler role

They only managed two hits, but some patient plate appearances and a couple wild pitches were the difference in a tightly played 4-3 victory for the Tofield Lakers Tuesday night.

Tofield threw veteran junk-baller Josh Banack, who kept Armena Royals’ hitters at bay all night long. The Royals threw young righty Mark Walker, who pitched a solid game but didn’t get any run support.

After a scoreless first inning, the Royals got a run on an RBI single from Cody Sroka to drive in Walker. But on the hill, Walker would load the bases in the bottom half of the second with three straight walks before Marcel Lesoway notched a two-RBI opposite field single to give Tofield the lead.

Both pitchers fought their way through any trouble until the fifth where Adam Johnson doubled and Jason Buzzell tripled to give Armena the lead back at 3-2. With Buzzell at third, and veteran slugger Clark Banack on deck, Josh Banack forced Armena all-star Joel Boettger to fly out to end further damage.

Tofield then made hay in the fifth inning as Josh Banack walked to lead off the inning before Walker got two straight outs. But then the young hurler beaned Jordan Banack to put runners on first and third, and Banack had already scored on a passed ball after stealing both second and third. Armena brought in right-hander Jason Buzzell to shut the door, but his first throw was an in-the-dirt wild pitch that allowed Tofield to notch the go-ahead run.

“I was so mad at myself,” Buzzell said. “It’s unacceptable. Just throw a strike. I let the team down. It’s my fault.”

The Royals looked poised to take the lead back once again in the seventh as Kyle Ellis led off with a single. He stole second but was caught in a run-down after an amazing stab from Josh Banack on a hard come-backer off the bat of Mike Sampson.

Sampson swiped second, but Adam Johnson then flied out to centrefield for the second out. Armena’s hopes, however, were not dashed after all, and Buzzell appeared to make amends for his wild pitch with a single to right field to bring in a shuffling Sampson – or so he thought.

Third base coach Clark Banack held Sampson since it was hit shallow to right field and Sampson had twisted his ankle on the steal to second. All was well though since all-star Joel Boettger was coming up with a chance to open things up.

Boettger instead struck out looking to end the game.

“I guess looking back it was some poor managerial decisions bringing in (Buzzell) and not sending Sampson,” the skipper said.

Hindsight 20/20 – the Royals had their chances. They left seven guys in scoring position on the night despite every batter getting on base – except Boettger who went 0-for-4 on the night.

“It’s a kick in the junk that’s for sure,” Buzzell said. “That’s baseball though, that’s what makes it great and that’s what makes it suck.”

Josh Banack was tickled pink after the game. He said they hope to knock off a couple more teams before the season ends. It was Tofield’s second win in a row after a 10-game losing streak to begin the season.

“Hey we’re 2-10 and we’re still here,” Banack said. “There’s something to be said for that.

We’ll win a couple more of these before the season ends.”

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Jason Buzzell