Patchwork Royals split in Rosalind

The Armena Royals put together one splendid outing followed by a debacle the next morning before getting eliminated on Bawlf School math in a fun and enjoyable, but wet, weekend in Rosalind.

The Royals, carrying two Camrose Roadrunners Friday night against the Camrose Midget Cougars, got five solid innings out of inning-eater, and all-star snub Ian Sherbaniuk. The righty, knuckleballer scattered six hits and struck out three for his fourth win of the season.

The real battle for him was against his younger brother on the night who managed two of the six hits – both dying quails that had the hurler steaming. The elder Sherbaniuk finally found a way to get him out in the fifth on a towering shot to the left field corner where Dave Andreaassen, fresh off the 15-day DL tracked and grabbed to avenge an earlier faux pas in the inning.

Joel Boettger made his way to his old team’s stomping grounds to shut the door, but was immediately greeted with a rocket off the bat of the first lefthander he saw in the lineup from the young Cougars. Right fielder Jason Buzzell charged hard and gunned down the runner for the 9-3 put-out as fans greeted the veteran plug with boos and cackles. Boettger forged his way through the rest of the final two frames for the 6-1 Armena win.

After a late night in the beer gardens and tent city, the Royals looked a little foggy for the next morning’s tilt against the Lougheed/Killam Wildcats/Braves. Andreassen struggled to get to the diamond for his first on-bat of the inning, while his teammates went off offensively.

Landon Miller launched a three-run homer and the Royals loaded the bases until the Wildcats/Braves ended the threat just before the rain started falling. A quick rain delay was not what the doctor ordered for a sleeping Armena Royal team.

The Royal would go on to make 10 errors and lose 10-6 in a marathon two hour and 45 minute ball game. The Rosalind A’s, enjoying the beat-down, made the Royals re-enter the field for the bottom of the seventh where chucker Jason Buzzell had pitched about five innings too many. After three runs came across, reliever David Ritz, finally seeing his first outing of the season got a 1-2-3 double play to end the fiasco.

The Royals then had to wait and see how the final game in the pool would turn out to see if they would play Sunday. The Cougars ended up winning a rain-shortened affair 5-1 over Lougheed seemingly putting the Royals into the A Final with run differential favouring Armena (6-1 W, 10-6 L: +1), Lougheed (10-6 W, 5-1 L: Even) and the Cougars (6-1 L, 5-1 W: -1). The oddly played seventh might have counted, but the Cougars and Wildcats never played a sixth or seventh.

It had a few Royals scratching their heads, but with the whole day turning into a mud bowl after a storm in Rosalind, and the drinks flowing, it seemed prudent to stay out of the debate and call her a weekend for a Sunday off.

The Royals now have Tuesday off for the all-star game before trying another Beaumont trip Thursday. Dean Prpic, who was named to the all-star team, is now out with an upper body injury and the team will inquire with manager Steven Pahl how to proceed with a replacement if needed.