Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
Both of Prince Albert’s entries in the Saskatchewan Premiere Baseball League’s 18U Division are making a move in the standings following a very successful weekend of action at Andy Zwack Field.
The Royals stretched their winning streak to six games with a pair of convincing doubleheader sweeps over the Regina White Sox and White Butte Broncos while the Padres rebounded from an opening loss to win their next three against the same two opponents.
As a result, the Royals are now in fourth place in the league standings, just two games behind the front-running Saskatoon Phillies, while the Padres are in an eighth-place tie with the East Central Red Sox, but they have games in hand on everyone else due to early-season cancellations and postponements. The top eight teams qualify for Tier 1 provincials so getting on a roll is important for both clubs.
“I told the boys we had a tough start to the year, but you are good ball players and we are starting to play some really good baseball now,” commented Royals’ manager Troy Semenchuk following his club’s fourth straight mercy-rule victory of the weekend, an 11-0 decision over the White Sox on Sunday. “I feel like we left three (victories) behind early in the season, but now we are putting the knife in and starting to twist.”
The Royals, who began the week with a 4-2 victory in North Battleford on Thursday over the Beavers, opened the weekend’s action with a 14-3 triumph over White Butte, a game that saw everyone on Prince Albert’s roster score at least one run.
The second game against the Broncos was much the same with Declan Borthwick going 3-for-3 and knocking in four runs to pace the Royals’ attack in an 11-1 victory. Kole McGregor also had a strong game at the plate going 2-for-4 with three RBI while Declan Lavallee allowed just two hits in picking up the win.
Against the White Sox on Sunday, it was Jaxson Robertson and Carter Martin leading the way with a combined seven runs batted in in an 11-1 win in the opener while Alex Moose and Daniel Acorn each went 3-for-4 in the 11-0 finale against Regina.
“Going into the week I told the boys if we win four of five that would be a good week,” says Semenchuk. “We went 5-for-5 and outscored the other teams 51-7.”
“We had quality starts out of all of our pitchers and our bats were unreal,” added Semenchuk.
Things didn’t get off to a great start for the Padres this weekend as they lost the opener against Regina on Saturday 25-12. After that, however, the first-year squad was in complete control as they won the nightcap against the White Sox 10-2 and then swept the Broncos 7-1 and 15-13 on Sunday.
In the opener on Sunday, Markus Exner allowed just seven hits in tossing a complete-game victory while Jett Miller was 3-for-3 with three RBI. Tommy Sutherland and Josh Bonthoux also had good games at the plate collecting a pair of hits each.
The Padres built a 10-1 advantage early in the nightcap against White Butte, but it was a four-run sixth inning that eventually put the game out of reach. Seamus McFarlane led the way offensively going 2-for-4 with three RBI while Noah Van Otterloo and Exner each had a pair of hits and brought home two runs each.
Both the Padres and Royals will have this week off as several of the players are graduating from high school, but they will get back to work next week when the Padres host the SaskFive Giants on June 29 at 6 p.m. at Andy Zwack Field. That game is a precursor for a Canada Day doubleheader between the Royals and the Padres with those matches set for 1 and 5 p.m. starts, also at Andy Zwack Field.
The 15U Royals were idle on the weekend, but they had had a busy start to the week. On Monday the Royals were in Watrous for a doubleheader against the Lakers, but 24-23 and 9-2 setbacks dropped their record to 3-10 before they rebounded with a convincing 9-2 triumph over the Northern Jays on Wednesday.
The Royals will face the Northern Jays again this Thursday when they travel to Melfort for a doubleheader with their next home action not until Sunday when they will host Watrous at 1 and 4 p.m. at the Kinsmen Baseball Complex in Crescent Acres. Sandwiched between those twinbills is another pair of games in Muenster against the East Central Dodgers on Saturday.
One final Royals team was in action on the weekend when the 13U squad competed at a tournament in Muenster where they suffered a narrow 2-0 setback in the gold-medal contest against the Humboldt Dodgers.
The 13U Royals do not compete in a regular league, but rely on exhibition and tournament games to tune-up for provincials, which are just over a month away.
In getting to the championship game against the Dodgers, the Royals outscored the Meadow Lake Sox 16-6 in their opener and then needed extra innings to get past the host Muenster Red Sox in the semi-finals.
“The team really stepped up this weekend,” noted Royals’ coach Michael Lypchuk. “Everybody played really well; it was a collective effort.”
Lypchuk singled out the stellar defensive play of second baseman MacLain Dallyn and the hot hitting of first-year Dawson Boulet as key performances from the weekend and hopes they continue their strong play when the Royals host Muenster in a doubleheader on Saturday at the Kinsmen Baseball Complex. Game times for those matches are set for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
