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After victories in their two round robin games, the Rosalind Athletics found themselves in the finals of the Cold Lake tournament against the home town Cardinals.  The A's had played two instant classics against Cold Lake last year, an 1-0 11 loss in round robin and a tough 5-3 loss in the finals.  Rosalind had gotten partial redemption after a 6-2 win on Saturday, and looking to even the series at 2 with a season ending win on Sunday afternoon.

Recent pick up, Jordan Hoover, got the start for the Athletics in the finals.  Hoover previously played against the A's in the PBL finals, and had been the starting SS for the A's in the first two games of the tournament.  The hard throwing righty proved to be a very solid addition, as Hoover threw a complete game victory.  The final line produced a 7Inn, 7K, 1BB, 6H, 0ER.

Offensively, Rosalind played to their stretghts and utilitized "small ball" while being aggressive on the base paths to put their runs on the board against a sound Cardinals teams.  After the A's gave up an unearned run, the speedy Hoover was thrown out at home on a perfect throw after leading off the bottom of the innning with a booming double.  The A's didn't threaten again until the bottom of the 4th inning, when M.Enright led off with a walk, Ronsko followed with a single before Gjesdal hit an RBI double.  Pederson then layed down a bunt, allowing Ronsko to score on the squeeze and put the A's up 2-1. In the bottom of the sixth, after Gjesdal reached on an error, Pederson sacrifice bunted in an attempt to move Gjesdal into scoring position, but a tough call eliminated Mark, but Pederson still got to second and took 3rd on a stolen base. With two out, Hoover got hit by a pitch for the 2nd time in the game, followed by a wind aided double hit in front of the right fielder to cash Pederson and Hoover and put the insurance runs on the board that the A's needed.

The second game of the Cold Lake tournament had the A's taking on the home town Cold Lake Cardinals.  The second game wrapped up the round robin portion of the tournament, and would effect the standings and 'A' and 'B' final match ups.  After Rosalind upset the Westlock Red Lions, and then the Red Lions beating the Edmonton Athletics, a solid game by Rosalind would put them in the final versus mostly likely the Cardinals.

'Big game Benny' took the mound in his fourth straight important game for the Athletics.  Benson did what he always does, putting in a consistent effort by keeping the ball down and using the surging defence behind him.  Brayden was on fire, as for six straight innings no Cardinals advanced past second base and most innings only had a max of 4 batters.  After an error in the bottom of the 7th, the Cardinals slugger went on to hit a two run homerun, but the game was already in the bag.

Offensively, the A's won the game on the backs of a strong five run inning.  A single, walk and 4 straight hits put all the runs on the board that the A's would eventually need.  The top of the order lead the way, as Hoover, S.Enright and Yuha all had multiple hit games and each scoring runs.

The Rosalind Athletics headed north for the second year in a row to take part in the Cold Lake Cardinals tournament. A prestigious 4 team tournament at a beautiful ball park with great facilities.  Many of the A's wives and kids made the trip into a camping weekend at the provincial park close to the baseball diamonds.  The Athletics would face the NCABL's Westlock Red Lions in their first game of the tournament.  The Red Lions are a perenial contenders in the North Central Alberta Baseball League, and a tough test for the A's.

The Athletics sent Steve Enright to the mound, looking to keep the Westlock hitters off balance with his wily repitore.  Enright has had a hot and cold season, battled a hip injury, and looking to end the season on a high note.  The veteran right hander was able to do just that, racking up a season high 5 strikeouts.  As is the Athletics general pitching strategy, the starting pitcher threw yet another complete game.  The only time Steve got in trouble was after a lead off error in the 5th, followed by a two out double.  Otherwise, the Red Lions base runners never got past 2nd base as Enright induced plenty of pop flies and ground balls.

Offensively, Brayden Benson had his best game of the year, with a single and double with 3 very important RBI's.  Recent addition, Jordan Hoover, showed why he gave the A's fits in the PBL Championship series, as he was 4 for 5 with 5 stolen bases.  Matt Enright also put up good numbers, as he chipped in 3 singles and reached on a error on his other plate appearance to reach base every at bat and score 2 runs.

Armena Royals - 6

Rosalind Athletics - 5

Called in the 6th inning on account of lightning.

After a blow out loss in game one of the Championship series, Rosalind was eager to get back on home field to even the best of 3. The Athletics had shown a lot of resilency, coming back from down 8-0 before getting within striking distance in the fourth inning before the wheels fell off in the 5th.  The key to the game would be for the A's to quiet the Royal potent offence and mount some pressure of their own early in the game.

Rosalind sent the right hander Brayden Benson to the mound for the critical elimination game start.  Benson had been dominant in other two playoff starts, shutting down the aggressive and hard hitting Ryley Rebels with series MVP quality pitching.

From the emotional high of beating the reigning PBL Champions, the A's came crashing down in game one of the finals.  The previous series that had a lot of intensity and clutch moments, did not translate to the opener versus Armena.

Armena Royals - 15

Rosalind Athletics - 5

Story and stats to be posted tomorrow.

After a tough game two loss at home, the Rosalind Athletics travelled to Ryley on Tuesday night to play the third and final game of the PBL semi final series.  Although the A's were coming off the loss, they still had a lot to feel good about after game two, and the good feeling of playing well in game one of the series.  The key would be to play strong defensively and keeping the potent Rebels offence at bay.

Rosalind sent Brayden Benson to the mound in the series rubber match.  Benson threw a terrific game one victory, and after enjoying some relaxation and fun in the sun at Carven, the young right hander was in fine form.  Once again the local Rosalindite proved to be a big game pitcher, as he was calm and collected in a complete game victory. Benson did a great job of maintaining his fastball down in the zone, and keeping the Rebels off balance with his curveball, leaving multiple Ryley hitters obviously frustrated.  The key inning for Brayden, and the Athletics, was the third inning after two routine outs, the Rebels strung three soft singles in a row to load the bases.  Benson showed great composure to bear down and a good pitch sequence and location to induce a pop up to the shortstop and squander the Ryley rally.  The final pitching line for Benson read 7 fantastic innings pitched, 9 hits, 2 strikeouts, 0 walks, 1 earned run allowed.

Offensively, Adam Enright stepped up in a big way with a 3 for 4 night including two crushed doubles into the gap.  Nic Ronsko provided two singles, and a cruicial stolen base that he would eventually score on Bart Orr's single.  Clayton Harbak continued his hot streak, striking fear into the fence in the right center gap yet again.

The Athletics wanted to give credit to the Ryley Rebels for an exciting, hard fought series.  Also, a HUGE thank you to all the A's fans that travelled down to Ryley to watch a terrific ball game.  It's always noticed and greatly appreciated when the Rosalind faithful are in the stands.

Rosalind moves on to play the Armena Royals in the PBL Championships, which get underway on Thursday night (July 16th) in Armena at 7pm.  The two teams split the season series, so it should make for another very exciting match up.