Old mugs don’t miss a beat

The Armena Royals had some new, old faces in the lineup Tuesday night and both manned the middle infield together in their return to the Royals blue.

Adam Johnson made a few slick plays at shortstop to keep the game from getting out of control. Cole Tomaszewski reached on an error and belted a hit late in the game. 

“With them back, Samoiseti playing all year and some of our younger guys a year older, I hope we can get more offence,” said player-associate-coach Jason Buzzell.

Unfortunately, Royal stymier Alex Roth diced the offence through six innings, carrying a no-hitter into the second half of the game until Ian Sherbaniuk and Jason Buzzell strung together back-to-back hits to drive in the first run of the season for the Royals. Roth moved to 3-1 in his last four starts against Armena and now has won three in a row after the 9-5 victory Tuesday night for Camrose.

Unbeknownst to the coaching staff, starting hurler Ian Sherbaniuk was nursing the end of the flu. He struggled to catch a high strike zone with his knuckler and walked half a dozen batters in the first two innings, which ended up being the difference in the game.

The Royals will get two of their now-veteran players back Thursday in Bardo as Kyle Ellis and Cody Sroka draw back into the lineup. Youngsters Brendan Kudrowich and Zenon Sherbaniuk will be healthy scratches so to speak.

“Everyone will be over 18 Thursday night in Bardo,” Buzzell said. “I expect a slugfest.”

Game Changer flops

It was a rough first night for trying out the electronic scorebook “GameChanger.” An email this morning apologized for the glitch last night that occurred, ironically the first night the Royals tried using the app during a game.

It’ll be tough to try and go back again after paper seemed to work just fine the rest of the night. Looks like manual tabulation will keep on keeping on for Mr. Buzzell.

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Jason Buzzell