Jays rally to topple Royals

The Holden Blue Jays strung together a five-run sixth inning to cap off the comeback 11-10 Thursday night in Holden.

Starters Stephen Hrbec and Jason Buzzell had both offences running around the bases most of the night. Hrbec’s defence was the culprit, making four errors that gave the Royals big run support early.

All but one Armena Royal recorded a hit, including a five-run second inning when Clark Banack cleared the bases but then tripped over first base for a single to the fence.

Cole Tomaszeski would also hit a stand-up triple in the fourth inning to give the Royals a 10-6 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth.

The rails quickly came off in the sixth as Buzzell tired. Two walks, then an infield fly, followed by a single and another walk ended his night. Landon Miller came in to nail things down but walked two himself before giving up a bases clearing triple to complete the Jays comeback.

The loss stings for a Royals team that had its third straight win in its grasps. It would have been the first 3-game winning streak for an Armena team since July 2006.

Comments in the dugout referenced the Armena “sixth-inning curse” that has plagued the team the two previous seasons.

“I don’t agree with that,” said associate player-coach Clark Banack. “It’s only a curse if make it a curse come Tuesday. We keep putting the ball in play and we go win some more games.”

The next game is Tuesday in Ryley then back home against Leduc on Thursday. It’s a pivotal week for a team that needs to forget a tough loss early in this 2012 campaign.

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Jason Buzzell