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The Rosalind Athletics kicked off their rare five game homestand on Tuesday against the 2018 PBL Champions, the Armena Royals.  Since joining the league in 2015, the games versus the Royals have always had a star beside them when the schedule comes out, and Tuesday night did not disappoint.

After reading the game preview on Twitter, fan club president, Mitch Hauser was eager to hear that Steve Enright was getting the start with the wind howling at the Homer Dome.  The unofficial betting line had the over/under set at 17.5 total runs, but Enright did his job to keep the potent Royals offence in check.  Although the Royals put two runs on the board in the top of the first inning, Enright was pitching well, one of his best innings of the year.

Down 2-0, after the top of the first, the Athletics struck back after new leadoff hitter, Nic Ronsko riped a double to the gap.  After a wild pitch, Sheldon Pederson was able to drive Ronsko home with a sac fly to right center, that the Royals centerfield was able to track down in the gap to make it 2-1 for the Royals.

In the top of the third, Enright was able to hold off the top of the Armena order, before a error kept the inning alive.  The royals catcher ended up hitting a seeing eye single up the middle of the infield to extend the lead for Armena, 3-1.  The dangerous Royals offence went to work again in the fifth inning, after a lead off single and a walk.  Enright was able to get the Royals best hitter to ground into a fielders choice.   With runners on first and third, Armena got their baserunners in motion, stealing second and the runner from third came into third.  The same play came back to haunt the Athletics catcher, as the attempted throw down to second tailed into centerfield, making the Royals lead 5-1.

Cue the comeback, as the A's catcher, Sheldon Pederson, tried to make up for his error the previous inning, hitting a 2 out homerun to centerfield.  Its unfair to say it was a no doubter, as the Homer Dome can make flyballs look like moonshots.  The score remained 5-2 entering the bottom of the sixth inning.  Adam Enright broke out of a slump, barreling a single to the outfield.  After Kobe Charchun fielders choice, Brett Yuha cut into the Royals lead, with an RBI single, 5-3 for Armena.  Nic Ronkso kept the train rolling, hitting a double into the left field corner, to cash in Yua, and bring the deficeit with one. 

Matt Enright continues to carve out a niche as a reliver in the A's bullpen, entering the game in the top of the sixth.  The elder Enright sat down two of the three Royals hitter himself, displaying the new grip on his curveball.  However, in the top of the seventh, it was the Rosalind outfield defence that shone, as each of the outfielders made a diving or running catches off the bats of the heart of the Royals order, to keep the game at 5-4.

After having lined out to the right fielder in his last at bat, Steve Enright gave the Athletics a chance to tie the game, with a one out single in the bottom of the seventh.  The veteran legs were pumping too, as Enright stole second, putting the tying run in scoring position.  Adam Enright drew a walk, putting the winning run on base for rookie Kobe Charcun.  The youngester got the pitch he wanted, but just popped it up to end the game. 

Thursday night saw the Athletics on the road to take on their namesake Sherwood Park Athletics at the Strathcona Athletic Park in the big city.  The diamond features the only grass infield in the league, and with the grass being a bit longer than usual, the older A's might be able to leg out a few infield singles.  However, Sherwood Park resident and veteran A's outfielder was curious how his tax doallars are being spent if the grass isn't being mowed.

Another rookie left hander made a PBL and A's debut, as the newest Athletic, Griffin Lorenz, got the his first start of the year.  Lorenz has been playing university basketball, but decided to sign a contract with the A's over the summer, to dabble in baseball again after a few years off.  There didn't appear to be much rust, as Lorenz's fastball and slider, and occasional change up, kept Sherwood Park off the board through most of the game. The young lefty went 4 innings, alllowing zero runs on 3 hits with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks.

The A's got on the board early, after singles from Chase Leslie and Sheldon Pederson, Ryan Yuha's single and Steve Enright's sac fly produced back to back RBI  to give Rosalind a 2-0 lead.  Nic Ronsko's gazel like strides allowed him to beat out a error by the SWP shortstop, before Ronkso stole second and scored on Leslie's single into left center.

The Athletics continued to put insurance runs on the scoreboard for Lorenz's pitching debut, in the third inning after Yuha singled and stole second.  Adam Enright got out of a early season slump with an RBI single.  Rookie Kobe Charchun figuratively and literally flexed his muscle, showing off his offseason hockey workout gains, as the trackstar hit a booming RBI double. Questionable if the 4x100 relay participant will try to turn the same hit into a triple next time.

Brayden Benson was the first Rosalind pitcher to make multiple appearances this season, after working the opening day game as the Expos.  Info to keep in mind for your office pools on which A's pitcher will make the most appearances, or the race to the always elusive 2 HR's by the Rosalind batters.  Benson did what made him an effective pitcher, keeping the ball down and utilizing the defence behind him.  However, the infield arms didn't have the required zip behind them, especially on the long infield grass, as a Sherwood Park infield single with runners on 2nd and 3rd somehow scored two runs.  Brayden may have also given up the first homerun in Sherwood Park Athletics history, a no doubter into the trees beyond the left field fence.  The calm, cool and collected right hander continued to do good work, and shut down the Sherwood Park offence.

The first mid week game of the PBL season had the Athletics travelling to Leduc at huge diamond at Fred John Park.  Leduc eliminated Rosalind from the PBL playoffs last season in the semifinals, the first time the Athletics hadn't reached the finals, since joining the PBL in 2015.  Leduc was ranked higher in the preseason predictions by writers on the PBL website; so there was a lot to prove for the A's early in the season.

Veteran righthander, Ryan Yuha, got the start versus the Milleteers, his first of the season.  In typical A's fashion, Yuha threw strikes and produced a lot of groundballs, keeping his defence engaged.  After the game, Yuha was quite proud to see that his strikeout to walk ratio was better than 1:1, after putting three strikeouts on the scorebook.  Yuha left the game after throwing 3 innings, allowing 2 runs, 1 earned on 5 hits with 3 strikeouts and 0 walks.

The A's got off to a good start, key to most wins, at the put up a crooked number in the first inning. After singles by Chase Leslie and Matt Enright, Sheldon Pederson walked, before Ryan Yuha hit an RBI single.

Mark Gjesdal took over in relief in the top of the 4th inning, as the Athletics have been making sure to slowly stretch out arms and get their pitching depth innings of work in the begining of the season.  The flame throwing ginger had a quick first inning of work, before Leduc spayed a few hits in the top of the fifth inning.  

The 2019 PBL season kicked off on Saturday afternoon, a beautiful spring day to open the baseball year with the Rosalind Athletics taking on the Edmonton Expos at the Homer Dome.  There was more fans in attendence than other years, as the Rosalind Jr A's were hosting a PeeWee tournament at one of the other diamonds.  It was great to see the resurgence of some young baseball making its way back to Rosalind.  Assistant to the General Manager, Steve Enright, was spotted handing out lifetime contracts for any kids interested.

Rookie Carter MacDonald took the hill in the first game of the season for the Athletics.  The young left hander has shown a lot of promise for the future of the rotation, with an plus fastball and good offspeed pitches.  He was also one of the only pitchers who has thrown a ball more than once this offseason, so a good choice my management to give the fresh arm the bulk of the innings in the first game.  MacDonald may have been shaking off some nerves, or grad festivities, through his four innings of work, but was able to escape a few jams without much damage.  After four walks in the first inning, MacDonald was able to find his release point just in time to strike out a potent Expo to end the first inning.  The defence behind MacDonald made a potentially game saving play, as Steve Enright started a double play in the forth inning with the bases loaded to end the inning, and keep the game 1-0 for the Expos at the time.  Carter MacDonald's pitching line didn't resemble the typical A's pitching staff in his first official outing, pitching 4 innings with 1 run allowed, on 1 hit (!!), with 3 strikeouts and 9 walks.

Now a veteran of the A's, Brayden Benson came in to the game in relief, to show the young whippersnapper how the A's typical pitching strategy.  Benson gave up a two hits, with the lead off batter in the 6th coming around to score but also picked up three strikeouts to give the A's a chance to win.  The recently married right hander left the game as the pitcher of record, as the Athletics took the lead in the bottom of the 6th.

Rosalind put together their only multiple run inning, in typical A's fashion, just in time in the bottom of the 6th.  After Brett Yuha led off and hit a rocket right at the third basemen, Nic Ronsko was reached on an error and stole 2nd.  Rookie Kobe Charchun came through with a clutch single to score Ronsko.  Fellow rookie, Chase Leslie put together a good at bat and drew a walk, followed by Matt Enright hitting a double to the fence in left center to score two runs.  Ryan Yuha hit a fielders choice RBI, and Steve Enright put another insurance run on the board with a RBI single.  After the dust settled, the A's scored 4 after having been shut down for most of the game, and three broken bats to show for it.

Steve Enright, the non typical closer, came took the mound in the top of the seventh with Rosalind leading 5-2.  If an inning could encapsulate a typical Rosalind pitching outting, Enright got a rolled over ground ball out of the lead off hitter, gave up a single, got a pop up on a floated change up, and finished off the game with a strike out with his hard breaking curveball.  

Its that time of year again.  Opening Day of the Powerline Baseball League is just around the corner, as the Athletics begin their fifth year in the PBL.  The A's kick off the season by hosting the Edmonton Expos on Saturday at the Homer Dome in Rosalind at 2pm.

The addition of three young prospects to the 2019 roster will be important this year, as the PBL regular season was expanded to 16 games this year.  With family commitments, holidays, and a busy planting season for farmers, having more flexiblity both physical and scheduling will go a long way.  The league decided to goto 16 games in order to play all teams twice, to have a more balanced schedule given the parity amoungst the majority of nine teams.  The Athletics had to win the last game of the regular season last year to avoid being in the wildcard playoff game, so getting out of the gate early and strong will be crucial.

The majority of the 2018 team will be back, with a few exceptions, as Ty Twitchell and Tanner Foss both left for the Camrose Axemen during off season free agency.   Losing two pitchers off the aging pitchinig rotation will definitely be a loss.  Assistant to the General Manager, Steve Enright, is still busy contacting a few talented recruits to fill the void.

Carter MacDonald, Kobe Charchun, and Chase Leslie will have plenty of opportunity to crack the lineup often, and play a big role.  These talent young guys are likely to be the future of the Rosalind squad.  Brett Yuha and Brayden Benson are the the bridge to that younger additions to the roster, and as both are also pitchers and solid hitters, they will be leaned on this season to get the A's back to the playoffs.

The A's are banking on big seasons from a handful of veterans

There was a lot on the line, when the Holden Blue Jays were in town to take on the Rosalind Athletics on Thursday night.  Not only another meeting from the PBL Championship series from last year, but with both teams at 9-4, and the Leduc Milleteers and Edmonton Expos with similar records, the battle for playoff positioning was on the line.  The winner would avoid the 4th vs 5th wildcard game, and get an extra week off, while the loser would almost certainly be facing tough competition to take on the regular season pennant winner.

Brayden Benson got the call to pitch the A's 9th game in 13 days.  Benson was coming off a strong showing versus the Sherwood Park Athletics, one of his best pitching performances in a recent while.  As Benson has been known to do, he continued to keep the ball down and induce plenty of ground balls and weak pop ups by the opposition batters.  The young right hander worked around a few scattered hits, and solid defence behind him.  The only trouble came in the top of the 7th, when after a one out single, the Blue Jays number eight batter ran into a fastball over the middle of the plate on a 0-2 pitch which became a Homer Dome statistic to tie the game.  Brayden later redeemed himself.  Benson threw a complete game, 7 innings, allowing 2 runs, on 3 hits and 1 walk with 1 strike out.

Offensively, the A's put up one run in the bottom of the first inning, after Sheldon Pederson reached base and stole second.  Matt Enright moved Pederson over to third before Steve Enright drove Pederson in on a fielders choice, a close play at the plate.  Kyle Muzzechka, the Blue Jays left handed pitcher threw well, as the A's didn't score anymore runs in a tight 1-0 ball game, before Nic Ronsko barrelled up a fastball for a line drive home run out of the Homer Dome to left field.  That insurance run came in handy after the two run homerun that Holden put on the board in the top of the seventh.  In the bottom of the seventh, Matt Enright singled before the Steve Enright reached on an error by the Blue Jays shortstop on a potential double play ball.  With runners at first and second, Brayden Benson hit a double into the right center gap to score Matt Enright and walk off the win for the Athletics.

The game featured a couple really good defensive plays by the A's, when Brett Yuha made a diving grab on a line drive out to left field.  The game also featured a return by veteran Josh Burnstad, who was a steady defensive stalwart at third base, picking up five ground balls.