Milleteers Win Opener of the Axemen Tournament

The weather held off just enough on Friday to sneak a game in to kick off the Axemen Tournament in Camrose. The Milleteers drew the AA Midget Camrose Cougars in their first matchup on a soggy field. 

The Milleteers went with sophomore Ryan Walker on the bump. He struggled a bit and couldn’t get his curve over consistently, but he battled and held the Cougars down for the first four innings. On the flip side the offense struggled for the first four innings, including failing to score with the bases loaded and none out in the fourth. 

In the fifth the Milleteers offense was sparked by Adam “Small Ball” Pahl as he hit his second infield single to lead off the inning and then promptly stole second. Murray Doyle then cashed him in with a single. 

The Milleteers then got a couple more runners on and finally got the big hit to break it open from Armena Royal Jason Buzzell, who the Milleteers picked up for the tournament due to some injuries. Buzzell had a real productive game as he ended up with a couple of hits and a walk and played some solid defense.

After getting staked to a four nothing lead Walker ran into trouble in the fifth as the leadoff batter got on after a dropped third strike. Then three hits and a walk later the bases were loaded with none out and the lead was trimmed to two. Cue “Enter Sandman” by Metallica as the manager went to the closer as rookie sensation Jon Anstey got the ball. 

Ten blazing fastballs later he had struck out the side and ended the threat. Anstey stayed in the game to get a gruelling three inning save to preserve the win, the second time this week he has come in to shut the door to help the Milleteers win. 

The Milleteers were to play on Sunday, but the rest of the tournament was washed out due to rain.

Posted on May 29, 2010 by Steven Pahl