Home game with Saskatoon Athletics set for Tuesday night
The first road trip of the season for the Prince Albert Royals Under-18 team was a tale of two games.
After seeing their eight-game win streak snapped on Sunday afternoon in a 7-1 loss to the host Regina Pacers, the Royals rebounded with a 7-3 triumph in the second half of the doubleheader at Pacer Park.
“I thought we were solid and played very well defensively in the first game, but we just couldn’t hit the ball and that was the difference,” Royals coach Ken Malenfant said. “It was a closer game than what the final score ended up being, but their pitcher (Josh Curtin) was pitching really well.
“Our pitching was really good in the second game and we were able to hit the ball well. Brady Robin hit a triple to clear the bases (in the top of the sixth inning) for us to pull ahead and we had some really solid pitching from Ben Lefebvre and Nic Nye.”
Prior to their trip to the provincial capital, the Royals had started off their season with a 10-game homestand.
“It’s been nice to start things out in Prince Albert and have all of the families to watch us play, but it’s good to get out and play in a different ball park and also get a taste of what teams in the southern part of the province are doing,” Malenfant said.
“We’ve been doing well but there are things that we can improve on as we start to play more road games next month. At the end of the day though, I think we can be happy about getting a split against Regina.”
The Royals will return to Andy Zwack Field on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to face the Saskatoon Athletics, with a rematch between the two sides set at the same venue and time on July 6.
“I think the big thing for us, especially before we have a lot of road games, is just focusing on our at bats,” Malenfant said. “There’s a lot of really good pitchers in our league and we just need to make sure that we are able to adjust to that.
“We can do that by getting the timing down before we get to the batter’s box by watching the pitcher and see what they are doing.”
Following their home games with the Athletics, the Royals will travel to Unity to face the Cardinals on Saturday, July 10 and will then visit the Lloydminster Twins on Sunday, July 11.
