Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
For a team that is just starting to get to know each other, the 13U Prince Albert Royals showed on the weekend that familiarity is going to breed success.
In just their first tournament action of the season the Royals rattled off three straight wins before falling 15-9 to the host Swift Current 57s on Sunday. Assistant coach Mike Lypchuk says that despite falling short of winning the tournament, a lot of positives emerged from the weekend.
“Our biggest strength is the core group of kids we have,” says Lypchuk. “They have got trust in one another. Everyone knows their role; everyone knows their position. There are no individuals.”
The Royals opened the nine-team event with a narrow 6-5 decision over the Battlefords Beavers and then followed that up with a 20-7 triumph over the Sask Central River Pirates from Clavet. Those victories sent the Royals into the semi-finals where they once again met the Battlefords, this time winning by a 15-6 margin.
Lypchuk said some defensive errors cost them in the final against Swift Current, but he did mention that starting pitcher Weston Nygaard was exceptional and that Joaquin Elliot showed his power with a towering home run, his second of the tournament.
There is no league for the 13U Royals to play in so they are relying on tournament and exhibition games to tune-up for provincials with their next action being a trip to Muenster in two weeks for another tournament. The Royals will then host Muenster in a twinbill on June 27 at the Kinsmen Baseball Complex with games set for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. starts.
Provincials are set for the end of July with Prince Albert hosting the 13U Western Canadian championships in mid-August. The Royals automatically get a berth in the latter as the host team, but they would like to walk through the front door as the Saskatchewan reps.
Another Royals team that was busy on the weekend was the U15 squad as they played a pair of doubleheaders splitting two against the East Central Dodgers on Saturday in Prince Albert before dropping both ends of a twinbill in Martensville against the SaskFive Giants on Sunday.
In the opener on Saturday the Royals held a slim one-run lead going into the sixth inning before the Dodgers rallied with a single run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to secure the 7-5 victory.
Sam Gray held the hot bat for the Royals going 3-for-4 and knocking in two runs while Will Boden also had a good game at the plate going 2-for-3 with one run batted in and one run scored.
The second game on Saturday saw the Royals overcome a 10-3 deficit with six runs in the sixth inning and four more in the seventh with Charlie Harvey knocking in the winning tally in walk-off fashion for a 13-12 triumph.
Gray had another strong game at the plate going 2-for-4 and bringing home four runs while scoring three of his own.
On Sunday it was Nate Stasiw leading the way for the Royals in the opener against the Giants as he was 2-for-3 including a home run, but his output, along with the solid pitching of James Schultz, was not enough as Prince Albert fell 6-5.
In the final game it looks like the Royals simply ran out of gas as they did not register a hit and committed three errors in an 11-0 setback to the Giants.
The Royals, who are now 3-8-0 on the season, will next see action next Monday when they travel to Watrous for a doubleheader against the Lakers.
In 18U action the Royals were in Regina for a pair of games against the Wolfpack with the hosts winning the opening match 7-4 before the Royals blew the second game wide open with six runs in the sixth inning and going on to record a 13-3 triumph.
Jaxson Robertson had a big game at the plate in the nightcap going 2-for-4 with four runs batted in while Alex Moore was 3-for-4 with three RBI. Carter Martin pitched five and a third innings allowing just four hits and striking out two to record the victory.
The split leaves the Royals record at 5-5 on the season and they will try and go above the .500 mark for the first time this season when they host the Saskatoon Phillies on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Andy Zwack Field.
The other 18U team, the Padres, were in Saskatoon on Saturday for a date with the Phillies, but that game was called in the first inning due to weather. Those two teams were back in action on Monday in Prince Albert, but it is not clear if the remainder of the Saturday game was to be completed prior to the regularly scheduled match or if that will be finished at a later date. The Padres are 3-2 on the season so they have a lot of ball to play to catch up in games played by other teams in the league.
