The Prince Albert Royals and Prince Albert Padres concluded the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League 18U AA season with a doubleheader at Andy Zwack Field on Saturday.
The Royals swept both games, winning Game 1 by a score of 3-1 and Game 2 by a wild score of 20-17. Royals Assistant Coach Graham McGregor said the last game included some of the most amazing circumstances he had seen in his baseball career.
“That comeback that we had in the second inning was a monster inning for us, but then it just kept flipping back and forth through the rest of the game,” McGregor said. “I have not seen that many swings in a game.”
The Padres took an 8-3 lead after the first inning, and added three more in the top of the second to go up 11-3. However, the Royals bounced back wit h12 runs in the bottom of the inning to go ahead 15-12.
The Royals scored all of the runs with two outs. McGregor said that the second would have been a monster inning in any game.
“The kids were swinging the bats well. They were being patient at the plate. They were disciplined,” McGregor said. “We talked a lot this week about base running, being aggressive on the base paths, but still intelligent, making good decisions. That was a bit of a focus that we had this week in practice that seemed to pay off today.”
After the wild first two innings the game settled down with a scoreless third inning before the fourth inning where the Padres tied the game back up. The Royals then took an 18-17 lead in the fifth and capped off their win with a two-run sixth before getting the Padres out in the top of seven.
This was the opposite of the first game which the Padres led 1-0 after the first innings and was scoreless until the top of the seventh when the Royals scored three runs.
Prince Albert Padres coach Jason Van Otterloo throws up a stop sign during the Padres 20-17 loss to the Prince Albert Royals in the second game of a doubleheader at Andy Zwack Field on Saturday.
McGregor said after the first game the coaches talked about how the Royals are a disciplined and veteran team and do not get rattled by circumstances.
“That was a big game for us that first game because it was the one that would have qualified us for that Tier 1 provincial, McGregor explained. “Then in the second game when we went down all those runs, it was the same level. Nobody was panicking, nobody’s getting upset, nobody’s worrying too much.”
Royals outfielder Jackson Anderson agreed with McGregor on the happenings in the second game.
“It was a really good game. I kind of had my doubts at the start when we got down, but we really came back and we didn’t give up,” Anderson said.
“Our team stayed level. We didn’t go through any highs or any lows. We just stayed calm and kept going,” he added.
The Royals and Padres entered the weekend hoping to earn a spot in Tier 1 Provincials, which are in Regina from July 24 to 26. The Royals clinched a fifth place finish with the win. The pair of losses dropped the Padres to Tier 2 provincials which are in Moose Jaw from July 24 to 26.
The Royals finished the season with a record of 16-11-1. The Padres finished the season with a record of 12-15-1 in their first season in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League. The Unity Cardinals have already been confirmed as the lone out-of-league participant to fill the void as the eighth team at Tier 2 in Moose Jaw.
McGregor said that the two Prince Albert teams were evenly matched for the game.
And that’s what you did too. And with all the swings too.
“A couple of really good pitchers on their side. Their bats were rolling in that second game too,” McGregor said.
The Royals went through four pitchers including starter Owen Tolley-Procyk. They also lost a pitcher to an elbow injury during the game.
McGregor said they were fortunate to have a deep pitching staff.
“That’s the one thing we are fortunate in with this group, he said. “We are so deep in our pitching. Like we still had three or four pitchers that we still had that we could have brought in. But it’s nice when you have enough depth and faith in these kids to throw and play different positions because you realize the guy’s not, maybe doesn’t quite have it or isn’t quite there on any day.”
He said that Tolley-Procyk is a great pitcher who just had an off day.
“Today wasn’t his day. Somebody else steps up. He’s an outstanding pitcher.”
McGregor said that expectations, now that they have clinched a Tier 1 spot, is to win provincials.
“That’s been our goal since day one of this season is go win provincials and get to Tier 1,” McGregor said.
“I’m glad we expected that going into the start of season that we’d be tier one and glad we made it happen,” Andersons said.
McGregor acknowledged that getting to Tier 1 was a little more work than they would have hoped for.
“We lost a few games through the season that we should have won,” McGregor said.
McGregor said those losses helped the team have the even keel to make the comeback in the second inning on Saturday.
He added that even though Royals baseball is free everyone still got more than their money’s worth on Saturday.
“If they enjoyed offense, they enjoyed the second game. If they enjoyed defence, they enjoyed the first game,” McGregor said.
McGregor said that the players on the Padres show that the future is bright in Prince Albert Minor Baseball.
“These kids represent a lot of these guys are younger and so they represent a lot of strength coming up through Prince Albert Minor Baseball and we’re excited to see what comes in the next few years,” McGregor said. “With this group of kids that are coming through 18U, I think they’re going to be incredibly strong.”
michaeloleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
