Armena takes game one in Ryley

Everything went right for the Armena Royals Tuesday night in Ryley, which ended in a 10-0 win sending game two back to Armena with a one-game lead in the best of three series.

Joel Boettger got yet another start against the Ryley Rebels and he looked better than the two previous games at times. Still, the Rebels put runners into scoring position a couple times before he worked out of jams. Aiding his cause was three double plays in the first, second and fifth innings.

Offensively things started slow for the Royals as all-star Craig Koughan got the first two outs quickly in the first inning, and things looked to be shaping up for another quick game. Koughan shutout the Royals and Boettger 1-0 back on June 12 in Armena.

But a double by Jason Buzzell followed by a drive to right field by Ian Sherbaniuk kicktarted a rally. Buzzell would score, then Kyle Ellis would knock in Sherbaniuk and the Royals led 2-0. The top of the order responded in the second inning as Adam Johnson and Clark Banack would both get aboard before Sherbaniuk would drive them both in. Sherbaniuk continues to catch fire as he had a 3-for-5 night and now has extra base hits in 5 of his last 6 games.

The Royals would add two more unearend runs in the third inning and the game then settled in with neither team scoring until the sixth. Armena again started things with two outs as a Sherbaniuk single followed by a Kyle Ellis double led to another Rebels error that scored the pair.

After two more runs in the seventh, Ellis would come in to get the final three outs to nail down the game one victory.

Game two heads back to Armena on Thursday. It’s not certain who will get the start for either team.