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On a windy and rainy afternoon, after all the other PBL games had been postponed, the Athletics were lucky enough to host the reigning PBL champion Armena Royals. Rosalind only received a light shower, ideal for the shale infield after the tournament hosted over the weekend.  This was the second meeting of the season between the Atheltics and Royals.  The first match up in the middle of May went to the Athletics, as Dan Enright shut down the Royals 7-0.

Ryan Yuha got the start, coming off a solid outing against Bardo early last week in PBL action.  Yuha pitched fairly well, but the Royals capitalized on a couple pitches left up in the zone, as two Armena batters put a charge in the ball out of the Homer Dome.  Ty Twitchell made his Athletics pitching debut in relief of Yuha in the fourth inning.  The youngster showed good life on his fastball, while racking up his first Senior baseball strike out.  Twitchell's command slipped slight in his second inning of relief, as the A's turned the ball over to Brett Yuha.  The second youthful arm to have a solid sinker and tight curveball, throwing two innings in the blowout.

Offensively, the Athletics couldn't string together enough hard hit balls to put pressure on the Armena defence.  While the A's didn't look over matched at the plate, the young Armena pitcher hit his spots, as Rosalind rolled over too many pitches to the Royals infielders.  Ryan Yuha cashed the only Athletics run, as the A's strung 3 consecutive hits together in the fifth inning to break up the shutout.  The rest of the game, Rosalind scattered 3 other singles, which as it turns out isn't a successful strategy to win most ball games.  And will in fact prompt a post game batting practice to iron out some kinks.

The Athletics host the Ryley Rebels on Thursday, looking to put a big win on the board in a tightening playoff race in the PBL.  Also, trying to get a home win on the board versus Ryley, after losing at home in the regular season last year, and in the 3 game playoff series that Rosalind had to take both games on the road.

After two wins in their round robin games, the A's punched their ticket to the finals of the annual Rosalind Baseball Tournament.  The Athletics had beat the Rosalind Old Timers and the Castor Raiders, familar foes from the Battle River League.  The Old Timers are making a push to goto Nationals in the 43+ age category.  The present day Athletics were taking on the Cold Lake Cardinals, after a masterful pitching performance from their Innisfail recruit throwing a perfect game in a 1-0 win over the Heisler Cardinals.

Steve Enright was selected to start the finals for the Athletics on the mound.  Enright was looking to transfer the success he's had recently with the bat, as he toed the rubber against a strong Cold Lake team.  Right out of the gate, Enright was sharp facing only 2 over the minimum going into the fifth inning.  Steve had his full arsenal of pitches, from multiple arm slots, confusing the Cardinals hitters.  Uncharacteristically, Enright racked up 7 strike outs in 7 innings, a few at key times to shut down Cold Lake as they appeared to be gaining momentum.  In the end, Enright threw a complete game shutout, with 7 strkeouts, 0 walks, 6 hits allowed.

Offensively, Rosalind battled all game, making hard contact but hititing line drives right at Cold Lake defenders. 

In the A's second game of the tournament, Rosalind took on the Castor Raiders, looking to secure first place in their pool and punch their ticket to the 'A' Final.  In the first game, Rosalind mercied the Old Timers.

Matt Enright took to the mound to face their old Battle River League foes.  Enright gave up one run in the bottom of their first inning, and then proceeded to shut down the Raiders the rest of the game.  Enrights offspeed pitches were the key to his success, keeping the Castor hitters off balance.  The veteran saavy pitcher threw a complete game, 5 inning mercy victory over the Raiders.  Enright gave up 1 run on 5 hits, while walking one and striking out 5.

Offensively, Sheldon Pederson continued the A's pattern of only hitting home runs with the bases loaded.  Pederson drove in 4 runs with the grand slam, after having hit a RBI single in the first inning.  Clayton Harbak also did a lot of damage at the plate, as he went 2 for 3 with single and double and 3 RBI's.  Matt Enright helped his own cause in a 2 for 2 effort.

The kickoff game of the annual Rosalind Baseball Tournament matched the current Rosalind Athletics up against Masters team from the Rosalind area.  The Old Timers team is making a run at going to Nationals in Medincine Hat in August in the 43+ category.  Pride Benson, Keith and Kevin McDonald, Darrell Heck were a few of the locals on the Masters team.

Brayden Benson got the start against the Old Timers, hopeful for a match up against his Dad both on the mound and at the plate.  The younger Benson pitched well, as the A's have become accustom to, only allowing one run to the old guys.  In a mercy, up over 7 after 5 innings, Brayden pitched a complete 6 innings, while allowing 6 hits, 4 walks and striking out 5.

Adam Enright was the offensive catalyst for the Rosalind squad, as he hit the second A's home run of the season.  Following Brett Yuha's grand slam against Bardo, Enright matched it, with a grand slam of his own.  Ryan Yuha, Josh Burnstad, and Steve Enright also had multiple hits of their own.  The "younger" Athletics beat the Old Timers 15-1 and will play the Castor Raiders tomorrow in their final round robin game to decide who goes to the A final.

On Thursday night, the Athletics travelled to near by Camrose to take on the suddenly hot Camrose Roadrunners.  The Roadrunners had recently ended a losing streak dating back 3 seasons, taking down the formidable Ryley Rebels.  Rosalind had defeated Beaumont in the dramtic walk off win on Tueday, and looked to remain at the top of the PBL standings.

Mark Gjesdal got his second start of the season, after throwing a complete game versus Bawlf in the Heisler tournament.  The young right hander threw well, with a sprinkle of wild, racking up strikeouts and a few walks.  Gjesdal shutdown the Roadrunners, with the A's in control of a 2-0 lead going into the 5th inning.  Two lead off walks, and a throwing error quickly got Camrose on the board and threatening to take the lead, but the damage was limted to a 2-2 tie.  Sheldon Pederson came on in the bottom of the sixth, but one baserunner and an unfortunate bounce on a groundball later saw the Roadrunners take a 3-2 lead.

Offensively, Rosalind wasn't quite as sharp as they had been lately, combined with a little bad luck.  Hard line drives where hit right at Roadrunners defence, or aggressive swings resulted in multiple pop ups.  Camrose outplayed Rosalind defensively, as that proved to be the differnce maker in a 3-2 loss for the Atheltics.

Rosalind hosts their home tournament this weekend, and kicks things off versus the Rosalind Old Timers on Friday night at 7pm.  Action continues all day Saturday and Sunday, make sure to come out to see some quality baseball action. 

On Tuesday night the Athletics hosted the young and talented Angels squad from Beaumont. The Angels have had the A's number since joining the PBL, with Rosalind record of 0-3. The Athletics lost in the first meeting of the season, on a cold and rainy night with Hurricane winds. After stringing together a few solid offensive performances lately, the A's were eager to get off to quick start versus the Angels.

Rosalind sent Dan Enright to the mound, his 5th appearance of the season and 3rd start. Enright held a 2-0 record with 1 save, while rocking a respectable 0.55 ERA. Enright may not have his peppiest fastball, but did a good job of going right after the Angels hitters, making them earn their way on base. The Angels broke the scoreless game open with a two run home run in the 4th. ZamZam continued to battle, keeping the A's in the striking distance, as the defence behind him continued to make plans.

The A's got fortunate in the 5th inning, on a play that ended up being the TSN turning point. After a leadoff single by the Angels number nine hitter, the Beamount leadoff hitter roped a long single off the center field fence that the A's centerfielder was able to relay back into the infield to keep runners at first and third. On the subsequent play, the Angel's hit a ball into the gap that the A's left fielder, Brett Yuha was tracking, layed out and dove, but the ball deflected off his glove. A's centerfielder, Sheldon Pederson, covered him up and quickly threw the base runner out at second, a force play. The runner had tagged up on the fly ball, not allowing the batter to reach or touch first base. The double play, force out, nullified the runner that had attempted to cross home plate, keeping the score 2-0 for Beaumont.

Offensively, Rosalind was being shut down by the ace Beaumont pitcher for a majority of the game. The A's didn't have a base runner past second, and looked mystified by the Angels 12-6 curveball that left many Athletics hitters walking back to the dugout empty handed. That all change in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Brett Yuha lead off with an opposite field double down the line. Steve Enright continued his hot streak, rapping a single threw the infield to score Brett and cut the lead to 2-1. Ryan Yuha advanced Enright, and the tying run, to second with a sacrifice bunt. With two out, Sheldon Pederson drove a single threw the left side of the infield to tie the game. In the seventh inning, cagey vet, Bart Orr poked a one out single over the infield. Orr advanced to second, and third, on two costly wild pitches. That set the table for Steve Enright to play hero, and provide the Athletics with their second walk off win of the season, as he ripped a ball off the third baseman's glove for a 3-2 win.

Rosalind travels to Camrose to take on the Roadrunners, who recently walked off the perennial contenders, Ryley Rebels, snapping their losing streak spanning 3 seasons. The Athletics also host their home tournament this weekend. Come out and enjoy the beautiful weather and quality baseball action.

After plenty of rainouts and a bye early this week, the A's were eager to resume the second half of the PBL season in Bardo on Thursday night.  Rosalind was victorious versus Bardo in their home opener in the middle of May.  A tight affair that Rosalind got typical strong defence and consistent pitching on their way to a 5-2 win.

Ryan Yuha got his first action of the season as the starting pitcher for Rosalind.  Unlike previous years, where Yuha's arm didn't bounce back after starts early in the season, the Yuha was able to build up some arm stregth this year.  Yuha looked sharp, using his change up to keep the Bardo hitters off balance, as the fouled multiple balls off the end of the bat.  Yuha pitched 4 strong innings, but unlike previous outings, didn't have tremendous defence behind him, as Nic Ronsko was caught flying a kite in center field twice and the new course shale made a few infield groud balls a bit of an adventure.  I'm sure manager Matt Enright, away on business, can guess how efficient Ronsko tracked those fly balls. Sheldon Pederson came in the 5th inning to close out the game for the A's.  A couple knee buckling curveballs, after a Bardo double kept the 14-3 win in tact for Rosalind.

The offensive star of the game didn't take long to put a stamp on his return to the line up after a hiatus which included a year off to "wheel smokeshows at the lake", followed by a broken foot from falling down one stair at the bar.  However, Brett Yuha got a hold of a opposite field rain maker for a grand slam in his second at bat of the game.  The youthful energy and story telling seemed to have a revitalizing effect on the married contingent of the A's roster.  Overall, the A's have done a good job of hitting the ball lately, with the exception of the debacale versus Spring Lake.  Steve Enright continued his hot streak, going 2 for 3 on the night.  As well, Nic Ronsko and Adam Enright both had multiple hits versus the Bardo lefty.

Rosalind takes on the Beaumont Angels on Tueday at home, looking to break a three game losing streak against the young and talented squad.

Rosalind Athletics - 12

Bawlf Outlaws - 0