Milleteers Hold On In Holden

On opening day in the PBL the Milleteers traveled to Holden to take on the Blue Jays on a great Saturday afternoon for ball.  After two strong seasons the young Blue Jays had a tough year last year and will need a bounce back if they want to compete for the playoffs this year.  The Milleteers went with 2012 PBL pitcher of the year Jon Anstey while the Blue Jays countered with hard throwing knuckle baller Logan Skori, who has battled arm troubles through his first three season in the league.

 

Both pitchers where tough early as neither offense could get anything going as the hurlers racked up strikeouts and quick innings.  In the third though Skori started to tire a bit as he got a little wild and after the Milleteers got a walk and a couple of hits to score a run the call to the bullpen was made as Skori’s little brother was brought in to try and bail his big brother out.  He hit the first batter he faced to load the bases and then gave up back to back doubles to catcher Brad Engel and the red hot Ryan Walker to give the Milleteers an early five run lead.  The Blue Jays pitching then settled down as the bullpen held the Milleteers in check the rest of the way to give them a chance to win.

 

That chance would come in the sixth as the Milleteers went to the bullpen and brought in hard throwing Kirk Smith.  After a clean fifth that included another caught stealing by Brad Engel, Smith would run into trouble in the sixth as he walked the first three batters of the inning to load the bases.  The Milleteers then brought in Ryan Walker to try and wriggle out of the jam.  He struck out the first batter, then gave up a single to left, but a heads up cut off got an out at second when the base runner took too wide of a turn.  Walker would then get a ground out to stop the Blue Jay rally at two.

 

In the seventh the Milleteers went to the bullpen again as national team member Tara Sliwkanich came in to try and nail down the save.  After getting the first two outs she ran into some trouble as a walk and a hit brought the tieing run to the plate, but she was able to get a pop up to the catcher to nail down the save.

 

It was a remarkably well played ball game in terms of defense early in the year as only a couple of wild pitches kept it from being an error less game.  Next up for the Milleteers will be the Ryley Rebels, fresh off a come from behind one run victory in their opener against their rivals from Bardo.  The Rebels and Milleteers usually battle for first place in the regular season so it will be an important early game in terms of the pennant race.

 

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Steven Pahl