Royals use long ball to knock off Lakers

The Armena Royals hit three home runs that ended up being the difference Tuesday night in Tofield to move into a tie for the fourth with a 7-4 victory over the Lakers.

The Royals quickly got out to a 1-0 lead before Tofield responded back with two runs on one hit and two errors in the first and the Royals seemed primed to fall to 0-3.

But a third inning solo shot by pitcher Jason Buzzell ignited a rally that was capped off by a Lee Palmer bases loaded single to give the lead back to Armena 4-3. Buzzell would hit another home run in the fourth inning, this time a 2-run blast before Wes Wilson hit a solo tater in the sixth for insurance to make it 7-4.

“Some bright spots on a day when we finally get our first win of the season against an improved Lakers squad,” said Buzzell after the game. “A couple guys got their first hits and we rebounded after a slow start.”

The oddest incident of the night featured Buzzell tearing into Ian Sherbaniuk after the youngster hit a lead-off triple but chose not to tag up on a ball hit to centre field by Buzzell.

“I had to catch my breath,” Sherbaniuk said post-game.

Sherbaniuk later scored, but the rare screaming tirade from the veteran PBLer was a wake-up call to a team that was getting used to losing.

“We were 0-5 going in, we’d made some baserunning mistakes in prior games and we had to win tonight,” Buzzell said. “It’s unfortunate a wake-up call had to be done at the expense of one of our best players to start the season, but Ian takes everything in stride.”

Thursday night is a big game for the Royals who play the expansion Holden Blue Jays, winners now of two straight with convincing victories over Ryley and Bardo. Game time is 7 p.m. in Armena.

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Jason Buzzell