Around the League June 4 – June 7

Monday June 4

Camrose Axemen – 11

Edmonton Expos – 7

The Camrose Axemen would defeat the Edmonton Expos in the one and only scheduled regular season meeting between the two teams by scoring at least one run in each of the six innings played on Monday night. The Axemen would combine for a total of 14 hits against Expos pitchers Daniel Zuk, Vaughn Rempel and Anthony Qaqish. Axemen right handed pitcher Matt Andreassen would get the win in relief of starter John Robbins. The duo would allow only 5 hits to the Expos, 4 of which were doubles. The Axemen would ride the hard hitting offence and for the first time this season, solid defence, to the victory while the Expos will need to tighten up defensively and on the base paths if they wish to keep pace with the first place Armena Royals. The two expansion teams can now only meet in a playoff series after their one game season series was completed.

Tuesday June 5

Holden Blue Jays – 1

Leduc Milleteers – 9

The Milleteers would continue their success against the Holden Blue Jays with a dominant 9-1 win on Tuesday night in Leduc. The Milleteers would not be kind to their former pitcher Ryan Walker, who was making his first appearance against the team he played from 2009 – 2015. Walker would go 22-4 for the Milleteers during his seven seasons with the club but Leduc was not in the welcoming mood. The Milleteers would use timely hits to capitalize on Jays errors to put up a big win vs Walker in his six innings of work. Walker would strike out six and allow just two earned runs in the loss. Offensively for the Jays, Zak Lang and Colton Ziegler would be 1 for 3 as the lone bright spots on Tuesday night.

Camrose Roadrunners – 2

Armena Royals – 4

Behind a strong pitching performance by Lance Zimmer, the Roadrunners would pester the league leading Royals and hang around through the entire game, but just could not get enough offence against Royals starter Doug Morris. The right handed Morris would go the distance for the Royals for the win infront of the hometown fans.

Rosalind Athletics – 16

Tofield Braves – 13

It was a pitching coach’s nightmare on Tuesday night in Tofield as the Braves and Athletics would combine for 29 runs and 28 hits with the Braves battling back from an early 10-2 deficit. Dylan Berrecloth (3 for 4) and Jason Sutherland (3 for 3) would lead the way for the Braves offence. Berrecloth would score twice and steal a total of four bases on the night while in his season debut Sutherland would hit a double and score three times in the loss. Rosalind would hit five doubles against the Braves trio of Sean Melanson, Sutherland and Dustin Huebert as the Athletics would send 55 hitters to the plate in the nearly three hour game.

Wednesday June 6

Sherwood Park Athletics – 4

Camrose Axemen – 7

A two run top of the first inning by the Athletics, aided by some questionable decisions by the Axemen defensively, wasn’t enough momentum for Sherwood Park to sneak their first win of the season in Camrose. Axemen pitcher Zach Bailey would collect his first career complete game win, defeating Sherwood Park’s Joey Poapst in front of a crowd that pushed 60 people on a gorgeous Wednesday night at Harry Andreassen Field. Veteran rookie Gord Nadeau would finish the game 3 for 4 with a RBI for the Axemen while Zach Bailey would help his own cause going 2 for 2 with a walk, RBI and two runs scored. The Axemen would steal a total of five bases on the night with Cal Zimmer stealing three himself as small ball and timely hits were the keys to Camrose success tonight. Sherwood Park would play a very good game defensively making three or four nice plays on extremely hard hit balls from the Axemen to keep the game close despite the Harry Andreassen Field infield closer resembling concrete then dirt. For Sherwood Park their offence was drive by Andrew #7 (2 for 4 with two runs scored and a double), Adam #19 (2 for 4) and Mark #6 (2 for 3 with a run scored and a stolen base). This was the only meeting between the two clubs this season.

Thursday June 7

Armena Royals – 9

Sherwood Park Athletics – 7

It might not have been the prettiest win, but it was still a win for the Armena Royals who extended their undefeated streak to seven games with a 9-7 win in Sherwood Park. Lyndon Galvin would take the win for the Royals who had a few rough innings defensively to keep the Athletics within striking distance right until the end. In the bottom of the sixth inning the Athletics would get the tying and go ahead runners on with no one out but would fail to score after a botched double steal attempt. After Clark Banack would score an unearned run in the top of the seventh the Athletics would battle back with the top of their lineup getting the tying run into scoring position but would once again be unable to capitalize as a pop up to short stop Doug Morris would end the threat and the game. The Royals are now within striking distance of the 2004 Armena Axemen (10 games, 9-0-1) and the 2005 Camrose Colts (9-0) for the longest undefeated streak to start the season in modern PBL history. At 7-0 they sit tied for third all time on that list with the 2015 Ryley Rebels who also started 7-0 that season.

Leduc Milleteers – 7

Tofield Braves – 5

It has been a tough season for the Tofield Braves, who finished last season with the lowest runs allowed in the league with 58 over 14 games. This season the Braves have allowed 84 runs now over only 9 games after their defeat at the hands of the Milleteers on Thursday night. Milleteers veteran pitcher Jon Anstey would make an appearance on the hill for the win in Tofield. The Milleteers are one of the hottest teams in the league winning their last three games by a combined score of 26-6 against the Sherwood Park Athletics, Holden Blue Jays and the Braves.

Edmonton Expos – 6

Rosalind Athletics – 7

A walk off win for Rosalind as Athletics sophomore Ty Twitchell would play hero with the game winning hit in the bottom of the seventh infront of a the hometown crowd. Rosalind’s Brayden Benson would pick up the relief win. The loss is the Expos third in the last four games as the team has slipped from their 4-0 start to a now 5-3 record. The Rosalind win moves the A’s into second place overall in the standings as they hold a tie break over the Camrose Axemen (1-1, +5). The two time defending PBL champion Athletics appear to be getting hot at the right time heading into the second half of the season next week.

Holden Blue Jays – 11

Camrose Roadrunners – 1

It was the fastest game in Blue Jays history according to their Twitter account. The Jays would need only one hour and five minutes to pick up their fourth win of the season in a five inning mercy rule shortened game against the Roadrunners. Jays started Grayson Suprovich would pitch four innings for the win, striking out four and allowing no earned runs. Catcher Stephen Hrabec would finish a home run short of the cycle going 3 for 3 with four RBIs and three runs scored on the night with outfielder Allan Ziegler also perfect at the plate going 3 for 3  with a pair of RBIs and a run scored. The eleven runs was by far the biggest offensive game for the Blue Jays. They came into tonight’s action against the Roadrunners having scored only fifteen runs in the previous six games to start the 2018 season.