Rebels Hammer First Place Roadrunners
Posted June 1, 2012
The Ryley Rebels offense clicked on all cyclinders on Thursday night at Harry Andreassen scoring 23 runs off of 29 hits against the first place (at the time) Camrose Roadrunners. The win over the Roadrunners moves the Rebels record to 2-3 on the year, with both wins occurring on the road versus, at the time, the first place team in the PBL.
Win – Corey Epp (1-1)
Loss – Josh Banack (0-1 vs Rebels)
The Rebels quickly got off to a banging start collecting 7 runs off of 7 hits in the first inning, one of three innings in which the Rebels sent at least 11 batters to the plate. RHP Josh Banack was given the task of going against a down Rebels team who two nights earlier lost yet again to the Bardo Athletics (5-4) after the offense struggled. The Rebels would collect 7 hits in three separate innings as the Roadrunner pitching and defence were unable to stop the onslaught.
Offensively for the Rebels, 1B Tyrel Majeski, C Brin Redhead and 3B Bryan Toles led the charge. Majeski was 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and 7 RBI’s which ties the Ryley Rebels single game record (previously held solely by 1B Travis Bugge vs Tofield Lakers May 27 2010). Redhead, a power hitting nine hole hitter, collected 4 hits and fell a home run short of the cycle while tallying 5 RBI’s. Toles contributed by coming off of the bench to go 3 for 3 with 4 RBI’s while scoring 2 runs himself in the rout.
Ten Rebel batters scored runs with four scoring 3 or more runs and eleven Rebel hitters collected base hits with 9 collecting more than one hit.
RHP Corey Epp (1-1) earned his first victory for the Rebels in 2012 in his third appearance by pitching effectively over his 6.00 IP. Epp utilized a strong defence behind him including a couple of diving stops up the middle by SS Dylan Solberg. But the Roadrunner offence was chippy enough to collect 12 hits off of Epp and RHP Kris Kushnerick who entered the game in the seventh inning. Fortunately for the Rebels the Roadunners were unable to string together enough hits with runners in scoring position to capitalize. The strong arm of C Brin Redhead was enough of a deterrent holding the Roadrunners to no stolen base attempts in the game to neutralize any unnecessary advancement. Strong play in the Rebel outfield didn’t allow the Roadrunners to sneak any extra bases as CF Kris Kushnerick threw out LF Marcel Lesoway at home on a single up the middle in the third and then SS Tim McTavish in the fourth inning as McTavish tried to go first to third on a single to the left centre gap.
The Rebels set or tied 8 franchise records on Thursday night both as a team and individually. C Brin Redhead, 2B Brian Tavaroli and CF Kris Kushnerick each collected 4 hits giving the Rebels 10 hitters to accomplish the feat of most hits in a game. Tavroli and Kushnerick’s hits were all singles putting them in a 7 way tie for most singles in a game with 4. As previously mentioned, 1B Tyrel Majeski tied long time Rebel 1B Travis Bugge’s record of 7 RBI’s in a game and Majeski’s 3 doubles tied a Rebels record held by CF Kris Kushnerick’s 3 doubles against the Camrose Roadrunners on June 11 2009.
As a team the Rebels set new marks for
AB with 51 (44, Tofield Lakers, May 27, 2010)
Hits with 29 (19, Holden Blue Jays, July 6, 2010)
Runs Batted In with 23 (21, Tofield Lakers, May 27, 2010)
The team also tied the Rebels record of 7 doubles in a game set on June 11, 2009 against the previous Camrose Roadrunners franchise.
he win has Rebels management once again hoping that the ship has been righted as when the team has a balanced lineup and strong defence, they can take on the PBL’s best with success. The Rebels will take on the Camrose Roadunners on Tuesday night in Ryley in the early season home and home series. While no starter for the Rebels has been announced, RHP Craig Koughan will have a weeks rest while RHP Don Oslund might also be an option once again for the Rebels. One would have to assume that RHP Alex Roth will get the nod for the Roadrunners to try and bounce back after the pitching staff was hammered on Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00pm at the Ryley Sports Grounds.
