The Parkland Expos midget ‘AAA’ baseball team welcomed the Swift Current Indians to Melville’s Pirie Field for two games this past Sunday in a rematch of their first series of the season that saw the two teams split a double header back in Swift Current Saturday, May 2.
The visiting Indians took advantage of a rusty Kyle Rathgeber (Melville, SK) in the first inning of Sunday’s Game One as both Travis Peterson and Nathan Braun worked five pitch walks before Swift Current starting pitcher Andrew Garland helped his own cause, singling in Peterson for the first run of the game while Braun advanced to second.
Kyle Rathgeber then buckled down, striking out both Taylor Bowers and Dayne Stenson. A walk to Indians centrefielder Mitchell Braun loaded the bases, however Kyle Rathgeber was able to escape the jam by getting Ian Fiddler to fly out to Expos first baseman Kholton Shewchuk (Rama, SK) to end the threat.
The Expos looked to answer back quickly in their half of the first inning as the Rathgeber brothers Cole and Kyle picked up back-to-back singles to open the frame. Unfortunately both Cole and Kyle were left stranded as Tannum Wyonzek (Yorkton, SK), Shewchuk and Taylor Elmy (Melville, SK) were all unable to reach base with Wyonzek flying out while Shewchuk and Elmy both struck out.
The top of the second inning once again saw the visitors find the scoreboard as Kyle Rathgeber once again struggled with his command, walking Ethan Warkentin to open the inning.
Kyle Rathgeber then struck out Brendan Hale before surrendering a pair of singles to Peterson and Nathan Braun to load the bases.
A wild pitch allowed Warkentin to score the second Swift Current run of the game quickly followed by the fifth walk issued by Kyle Rathgeber in just over one inning resulting in Kyle Rathgeber being moved to centrefield in favour of relief pitcher Jordan Bieber.
An error by Cole Rathgeber allowed the Indians to push another run across the plate for a 3-0 lead before Bieber was able to limit the damage, striking out Stenson and Mitchell Braun to end the top of the second inning.
The Parkland Expos got the game to within one run in their half of the second as they loaded the bases with the first three batters thanks to an Indian error and a pair of singles, one each by Ryan Krupski and Kaito Farquharson.
Jake Holinaty drove in the first Expo run with a ground ball that the Indians fielded and recorded an out on at second base, however the open base allowed Holinaty to steal second on the next pitch and when Swift Current tried to throw him out Krupski, who had advanced to third on the previous play, took the opportunity to score Parkland’s second run of the inning to cut the Indian lead to one at 3-2 after two innings of play.
Bieber kept the Swift Current bats quiet in the top of the third, picking up two strikeouts and a ground out while the Expos offence exploded in their half of the third scoring seven runs on seven hits and one error highlighted by a Kyle Rathgeber bases clearing stand up triple and after three innings the Parkland Expos found themselves ahead 9-3.
Both teams failed to score a run in the fourth inning despite both clubs loading the bases.
Swift Current pulled back to within three in the fifth inning when they scored a trio of runs, however that was as close as they would get as the Expos scored two in the sixth and allowed just one more in the seventh for the 11-7 Game One victory.
Bieber picked up the win in relief going 5.2 innings and surrendering four runs, two earned, on six hits and two walks while striking out eight while Harland shouldered the defeat giving up nine runs (four earned) on 11 hits and one walk over three innings of work while Cole Rathgeber and Tannum Wyonzek both went 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI. “It was important for us to come out and start strong against them because we kind of felt that when we were in Swift Current we let one get away from us,” offered Parkland Expos co-coach Aaron Elmy following the game. “We felt like we should have had two wins there so Game One was important. It was our home opener and that’s what we talked about in the pregame and we wanted to come out and play well and we eventually did.
“Jordan Bieber came in and did very well in relief. That definitely put us in a good position to go after the win. Kyle Rathgeber had a stand up triple to score three runs for us so that was a positive for us for sure on the offensive side and overall, we played a pretty strong game in Game One.”
The 11-7 victory set the table for a Game Two that saw the Expos lead from start to finish, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning and adding two more in the third for good measure as they cruised to a 6-2 win.
Cole Rathgeber picked up his first win of the season going four strong innings, giving up just three hits and walking two while striking out four while Kholton Shewchuk pitched well in relief giving up one hit and two unearned runs over three innings while striking out four as well. “In some situations it was almost unfair to the other team,” coach Elmy said of Cole’s performance. “That might sound like an exaggeration but there were some hitters that went up there that had no idea what was coming from him. He embarrassed a lot of hitters and it was good to see him respond because same thing, his first outing of the season in Regina wasn’t the Cole we are used to seeing, so it was an outstanding pitching performance by him.”
First year midget player Kaito Farquharson led the Expos’ Game Two offence with a 3-for-3 performance in which he picked up four RBIs on two singles and a double. “He (Kaito) was the other highlight in the game,” offered Elmy. “He’s a first year player and he just found the gaps, found the holes.
“It was outstanding to see a first year midget player come up with three hits like that for sure.”
Controversy
The Parkland Expos took on the Regina Athletics last Tuesday, May 5, at Regina’s Currie Field and officially lost 7-6 in extra innings, however there was controversy as the Expos had previously scored a run that was not counted by the official scorekeeper. “There was a run that was scored for us that ended up not being counted by the scorekeepers and it’s as simple as that,” mentioned Elmy. “We appealed and we lost the appeal.
“It’s unfortunate but we’ll use it as a learning opportunity and take it from there.”
Had the run counted the Parkland Expos would have walked out of Currie Field with a 7-6 regulation win instead of the 7-6 extra inning defeat, and although the result is far from ideal due to the error (thanks in large part to the Pointstreak website), Elmy feels the close game against one of the league’s top teams is proof that the Expos are headed in the right direction. “We didn’t get the win in the end unfortunately,” said Elmy, adding, “But what we’ve shown in all our games is that we can definitely compete in this league and there is a good opportunity for us to have a lot of success.”
Up next
The Parkland Expos ‘AAA’ team played last night in Melville against the Regina Expos, however results were unavailable at press time.
The next action for the ‘AAA’ Expos will be this weekend when they travel to Saskatoon for the Sask Selects Midget ID tournament.
The next action for the midget ‘AA’ Parkland Expos will be Saturday, May 23, when they welcome the Assiniboia Aces to Melville’s Pirie Field. This past weekend the ‘AA’ Expos fell to the undefeated Moose Jaw Canucks 16-4 and 17-1.
