Rebels Fall Into Booby Trap At Cubs Invitational

The Ryley Rebels officially wrapped up their return to baseball in 2009 with one last tournament in St. Paul over the weekend. The St. Paul Cubs hosted the inaugural St. Paul Cubs Invitational which included the Killiam Braves, Cold Lake Cardinals, St. Paul Cubs, Cadogan Nitehawks, Edmonton Athletics and the Ryley Rebels.

The Rebels opened the tournament on Saturday morning against the Killiam Braves and were able to come away with a 13-5, 5 inning victory against one of the Battle River Leagues best. RHP Kris Kushnerick made his second career start for the Rebels going 5 innings with 9 strikeouts, 2 walks, a hit batter and 4 earned runs, 3 of which came off a home run by the Killiam catcher in the second inning. Offensively the Rebels were led by SS Dylan Solberg who was 2 for 2 with a single, a home run and 3 RBI’s.

“He can hit as many home runs as he wants in tournaments, but until he hits one in league play, I don’t even want to talk to him” said Rebels 2B Kyle Reinholt.

But more importantly Solberg added 2 more hit by pitch to his astounding total of 11 on the year. The Rebels have been plunked 22 times this season, Solberg accounts for 11 of them. The top of the Rebels order, LF Corey Epp, CF Josh Lyons, SS Dylan Solberg, 2B Kyle Reinholt, and P Kris Kushnerick went a combined 10 for 15 with 9 runs scored and 8 RBI’s.

Saturday afternoon saw the Rebels take on the host St. Paul Cubs in front of a great home town crowd. With the UFO landing pad looming in the background, the Cubs were able to easily dispose of a Rebels defense that committed 6 errors behind RHP Dylan Solberg. The St. Paul pitching staff was able to hold the Rebels offense to a dismal 4 hits. LF Kris Kushnerick was able to chip in 2 singles, SS Corey Epp was able to get the third single and both of the Rebels were scored on CF Josh Lyons 2 RBI single. There was a moment straight out of the Twilight Zone that fans and players were left in shock.

With the Rebels trying to hold off a mercy victory by the Cubs, and with 2 outs, and a runner at third, pitcher Corey Epp balked home the mercy run for the Cubs. “I don’t know what happened” said Epp “I was in my windup, saw him starting to run, so I stopped, put my foot down, but forgot to throw the ball.” A 10-2 victory for the Cubs capped a nice afternoon game that saw the town recognize some of the original St. Paul Cubs with a couple of ceremonial first pitches.

After the game Kevin “Cito” Reinholt could be heard “Well let’s get into one boys.” As a good team should, they listened to their manager and one was definitely got into. With some of the team guarding the campsite others went out on a tour of the town to take in the sights and sounds of the St. Paul night life. The main attraction was of course St. Paul’s own “the Booby Trap” whose neon light was like a homing beacon for Rebels.

“It was a nice little bar” said Kushnerick “I mean we snagged a parking stall literally right in front of the main door and we probably gave that place a months worth of business in a couple hours.” Eventually though the team came to the decision that $8 shots wasn’t worth it and back to the campsite to finish off the night. “Some guys were harder to pull out of that place then others” said Epp. With the Sunday B Final probable pitcher, Axeman Joel Grauman, sleeping on the tonneau cover of his truck, and with Corey Epp sleeping with his truck doors open, Mother Nature decided to pour rain on the Rebels to officially put an end to a hot night.

The B Final was played against the Edmonton Athletics of the North Central Alberta Baseball League on Sunday morning. The Athletics played a 40 minute, 7 inning game against the Cadogan Nitehawks the night before, which saw them lose a nail bitter 1-0. Rebels management gave the nod to RHP Joel Grauman for the B Final and he pitched well despite the Rebels not being able to hold on to the strong defensive play in the first few innings.

Grauman went 4.2 innings surrendering 7 runs however only 3 were earned as the Rebels defense began to kick the ball around. The AA Athletics proved to be too much for the Rebels defeating them 10-1. The Rebels however were not intimidated by the Athletics as tempers began to flare in the 3rd inning when Rebels LF Kris Kushnerick and Athletics 1B Micheal Yaremkowych exchanging words on a close play at first base.

“I said to the ump that I didn’t think he was that flexible and doing the splits pulled him off the bag.” said Kushnerick. Apparently Yaremkowych took huge offense to that comment has he seems to pride himself on his ability to do the splits at first. RHP Joel Grauman was at the center of the other flare up as he hit the Athletics RF Dennis Landriault twice, both times Grauman felt that Landriault didn’t move out of the way.

As Landriault was walking to first base after the second hit by pitch he exchanged words with Grauman causing the umpires to step in and warn both sides. With Ryan Stauffer behind the plate, Travis Bugge at third, Kushnerick in LF and the Reinholt boys (Kevin and Kyle) manning first and second, the tale of the tape was vastly in favor of the Rebels. “It would have been a great team bonding moment” joked Kushnerick.

The Rebels will look now into the off season where they may become active in the free agent market looking to solidify the starting rotation and look for another left handed bat to better play the percentages in the right handed pitcher dominant Powerline Baseball League. With 90% of the current Rebels committing to next year already, fans are expecting the team to build on the success of their first year and be a challenger for the coveted Powerline Baseball League title.

St. Paul Cubs Invitational

Pool A – St. Paul Cubs, Ryley Rebels, Killiam Braves

Pool B – Cold Lake Cardinals, Cadogan Nitehawks, Edmonton Athletics

Friday August 21

7:00 pm – Killiam Braves (2) vs. St. Paul Cubs (2)

Saturday August 22

9:00am – Cold Lake Cardinals (0) vs. Edmonton Athletics (3)

11:15am – Ryley Rebels (13) vs. Killiam Braves (5)

1:30pm – Cadogan Nitehawks (?) vs. Cold Lake Cardinals (?)

3:45pm – St. Paul Cubs (10) vs. Ryley Rebels (2)

6:00pm – Cadogan Nitehawks (1) vs. Edmonton Athletics (0)

Sunday August 23

10:00am – C Final – Cold Lake Cardinals (?) vs. Killiam Braves (?)

12:15pm – B Final – Edmonton Athletics (10) vs. Ryley Rebels (1)

2:30pm – A Final – Cadogan Nitehawks (?) vs. St. Paul Cubs (?)

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Kris Kushnerick