The Marysburg Royals senior baseball team kicked off its 2015 campaign with three wins and a loss last week.
“It was a good first week of ball for us,” Royals representative Curtis Strueby wrote in an email. “Our pitching has been sharp, which is good to see. The bats have been okay and will only get better as the year goes on. The concern right now is our defence. Hopefully we can clean that up. If we do that, we will be fine and I’m confident that we will. It’s very early in the season yet.”
On June 13, the Royals will be competing at the Holdfast Sports Day. The next evening they will take on the Blue Jays in Saskatoon.
The Royals opened their season on the road with a 9-6 victory over the Saskatoon Diggers on June 2. Dean Jaeb started and picked up the victory by pitching four innings. Paul Strueby pitched the final three frames. Curtis Strueby said the Royals made four errors but were able to get timely runs on a couple hits with two outs.
On June 4, the Royals got past the Saskatoon Outlaws, 6-2. Colin Bauml earned the win. He threw the first four innings before Eric Bollefer came on in relief.
“The boys were sharp defensively, not making any errors, and once again we got some clutch two out hits to score some runs,” Curtis Strueby wrote.
At their home opener, the Royals stretched their season opening winning streak to three games. They dropped the Saskatoon Guns, 6-3. With five strong innings of work, Craig McWillie earned the victory on the mound. Bollefer threw the last two innings for Marysburg.
“We only had six hits, but our pitching was strong and defensively we were solid making only one error,” Strueby wrote.
In the second game of the double header against the Guns, Marysburg fell 18-8. Matthew Strueby started and threw four solid innings, but the Royals committed five errors. The Guns had nine runs against Matthew Strueby, but only two were earned.
“We battled hard to get back in the game, but the Guns came to play in this game and we didn’t,” Curtis Strueby wrote.
Humboldt AA Undefeated
The Humboldt Dodgers remain undefeated in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League’s midget AA division, as of June 8. The had a 12-0-1 record and had outscored the opposition 125-46.
On June 7, Humboldt earned a tie and victory in a home double header with the Parkland Expos. The two teams played to a 7-7 draw. The Dodgers had 11 hits, while the Expos accumulated 12 but committed one error. Dalyn Smith had a double and two runs batted in to lead the way for Humboldt.
The Dodgers also beat Parkland 13-3 as they outhit the Expos 12-6. Smith earned the win. He struck out six and allowed five hits and two runs. Smith also helped his cause with a pair of doubles and three RBIs. Tyson Earis and Dawson Atamanchuk, who had three hits, each drove in two runs.
It is a big week for the Dodgers. Humboldt will host the Weyburn Beavers on June 13 for a double header. The next day the Northwest Pirates are in town.
Muenster Leads the Way
The Muenster Red Sox are off to a great start in their first season in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League’s midget AAA ranks. As of June 8, the squad was 13-1. They were riding an 11-game league winning streak.
“So far in the league we have had very good pitching and defence, and this has allowed us to be successful,” Red Sox head coach Chad Hofmann wrote in an email interview. “Our hitting has been good some games and the next we struggle, but we have to credit the other teams’ pitching. All teams in the league do not allow for an ‘easy’ game. Everyone is very competitive. I think by the end of the year, the standings will show how close everyone is.”
Red Sox hurler Parker McRae leads the league with a 0.00 earned run average. In 14 innings, he had struck out 12 and allowed eight hits.
Brody Frerichs paces the Red Sox, and is tied for second in the league, with three wins. Logan Hofmann is second on the team and fifth in the division with two wins. His 1.17 earned run average is third in the league and his 20 strikeouts rank him in the top seven.
Nick Anderson leads the team with a .429 batting average and 11 runs batted in. Adam Gerwing is second with 10 RBIs.
The Red Sox earned three victories last week. On June 2, they beat the Saskatoon Cubs 8-5. Devin Hinz earned the win for Muenster. He allowed three runs on six hits. Kalvin Rueve and Thomas Lessmeister pitched in relief for Muenster. Chet Bornhorst and Bryce Rueve each drove in two runs. Muenster pushed five runs across in the fourth to take a 7-3 lead.
On June 7, the Red Sox won both parts of its doubleheader against the Parkland Expos at Jubilee Memorial Stadium. In the first game, Muenster held on for a 3-1 victory. By the fourth inning, the Red Sox were on top 3-0. Parkland scored in the fifth but couldn’t make the game any closer. Carter Frerichs allowed just one run on five hits in six innings. Lessmeister earned the save. Anderson had two hits to lead Muenster.
In the later game, the Red Sox racked up nine hits in a 9-2 win. Anderson had two doubles and drove in three runs. McRae was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
While the Red Sox have been successful so far, Coach Hofmann emphasized the team needs to continue to improve.
“I am happy with our start, but we have a lot of games to play and want to keep getting better, so by the end of the year, we are playing our best,” he wrote.
