Royals offence a surprise early

When a team only gets three practices before their opening game, none of which include an infield practice, it’s pretty certain the defensive aspects of turning double plays, communication on infield pop-ups and general rustiness will show through.

That was the case Tuesday night in Holden (home of the Armena Royals for one night – and I can’t say only for sure) as they took on the defending champion Leduc Milleteers.

The Milleteers boxscore showed just five errors, but it was also the timing of an easy catch dropped, a missed ground ball or high throw that created what seemed to be a runaway after three.

”I’m actually really impressed and hopeful that our defense and pitching can pick up and match what we’ve done offensively so far,” said associate coach Jason Buzzell. “Twenty-two runs in two games might not be a big deal for the Leduc’s, Bardo’s and Ryley’s, but it is for us. If we keep scoring like that, I think our defence will catch up and we can maybe squeak out some games.”

It took five games to reach over 20 runs last season for the young, and still Bambi-like Royals. It’s hard to tell if it’s a year of man strength added to the arms of Ian Sherbaniuk, Mark Walker and Kyle Ellis, or if the additions of Chad Samoisetti, Landon Miller, Zack Kempf have bolstered the lineup enough, or whether they’ve just capitalized off some rusty defence and pitching arms. It makes you wonder if this Royals team could finally get over the hump of having the most anemic offence in the league.

Thursday back in Holden will be another test. Holden is knocking the snot off the ball but struggled against Bardo Tuesday night with errors. They are still waiting for hurler Kyle Kyle Muzechka to return to the lineup and their defence, like everyone else, is shaking off rust. It could be another ugly, lengthy night on the diamond.

“We did grab a win against Holden in kind of a meaningless game with a lot of veterans in the lineup last year,” Buzzell said. “If Kyle (Ellis) can throw strikes and we can keep hitting the ball, we should have an OK game.”

Game time is 7 p.m. in Holden.

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Jason Buzzell