Pitching was the name of the game for the Prince Albert 18U Royals as they earned a doubleheader sweep over the Regina White Sox at Andy Zwack Field on Saturday afternoon.
With the wins, Prince Albert moves to 10-8 on the season. Head coach Scott Gladstone says the wins will significantly help the Royals in their goal of qualifying for the Tier I provincial tournament.
“It’s huge for us. We’re coming up on a point where they’re going to decide who’s going into Tier I provincials and getting above .500 and being in the top eight in our league will put us into Tier I. I think we’re pretty much there where we’ve accomplished that goal, so we’re very excited to pick up these two wins.”
The Royals took home a 4-1 victory in the first game behind a strong starting effort from right-hander Jaxson Robertson who held the Regina bats to just one run on four hits over six and a third innings. He walked four and punched out nine batters before being removed from the game due to pitch count.
Prince Albert would add a pair of runs in the third and fourth innings.
In the third, Tye Semenchuk drove home Kayden Burns on a double to center field. Semenchuk would score later in the inning on an RBI groundout by Robertson.
In the fourth, Kolby Brown would smack a triple into the gap scoring Landyn Vandale all the way from first base. The next batter Carter Gladstone would drive home Brown with an RBI groundout to first base after a lengthy six pitch at-bat.
Carter Martin would come in relief in the top half of the seventh inning for Prince Albert and earned the save, recording a strikeout and picking off Regina’s Noah Howarth at first base to end the game.
Regina would strike first in the top of the first inning of the second game as Ty Cavers would drive home one with an RBI double.
The White Sox would add another run in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Prince Albert would take the lead thanks to a four run outburst in the third inning. Brandon Moose would score on a passed ball to cut the Regina lead in half. Carter Martin would tie the game two pitches later with an RBI single to center field.
A double off the bat of Tye Semenchuk would put two runners in scoring position for Prince Albert and Owen Tolley-Procyk would take full advantage of the opportunity, lacing a two RBI double to left to put the Royals ahead.
Regina would cut the lead back to one in the next half inning as Jacob Diewold would smack a two-out, two-strike RBI single to left.
The Royals would take advantage of a couple Regina errors to plate three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-3 lead.
Regina would add two runs in the top of the sixth, chasing Royals starter Isaiah Parent in the process. Parent earned the win, allowing five runs (three earned) on four hits, walking six and striking out four over five-and-two-thirds innings.
Gladstone says he was extremely pleased with the efforts turned in by the Royals starting pitching
“They threw strikes all game long. They were amazing. To get pretty much six innings out of each of those guys is huge and to keep a team under four or five runs in six innings is big for our group.”
Regina would make things interesting in the top half of the seventh, scoring one run and bringing the tying run to third base, only 90 feet away from tying the game with one out.
Carson McGregor would lock things down from there striking out Quinton Foster looking after a lengthy, 11 pitch at bat. McGregor would then fan Diewold to end the game and earn the save for the Royals.
Gladstone says he was pleased to see a veteran player like McGregor step up in a big moment.
“Those are big, any time we can have those third year guys showing some leadership out there, whether it’s early in games or late in games. Third year guys will be a little bit more comfortable late in games and that’s why we threw him out there because we knew he’s going to be confident, he’s going to have not let those nerves get to him and he did a great job out there.”
The Royals return to action on Tuesday, June 2 when they welcome the Saskatoon A’s to Andy Zwack Field. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
