Up + Running

Tales from the Doug Out: May 30th, 2017

If April showers bring May flowers, what does May showers bring? Rain delays!

Can you believe this, tomorrow is already the end of May. The first month of ball is almost over. Quite a few of the games in May were postponed due to rain and snow; including the Peewee boys Sox. They had one game to make up from earlier in the month and ended up playing it this past Tuesday against Bonnyville. Although they came out on the losing end of the baseball bat, they played really well.

Sometimes we need to focus on the positives, and there has been a lot this season, considering many of these boys are first year as peewees. Josef “Red” Therialt, “Bazooka Joey” Cardinal,  Teagan Jacobson, Tristan Proudlove, Keith Stuparyk and closer Vanden “Super Mario” Moroziuk all getting the call to the mound this season and doing a terrific job.

Nathanial Cousins behind the mask at home to start the game has a strong arm for the throw down to second. Spencer McNamara had a hot glove on first base, getting all three outs in one inning. He also had some great blocks of wild pitches, at the catcher position, later in the game.

The infield was solid as a rock with Wyatt Pavoll at shortstop, Brady “Bionic Man” Hymanyk on second and Chase “Big Pappi” Pankiw  on third, nothing was getting through.   Keith Stuparyk pounding a really nice double to center field bringing in some runs.

On Wednesday, just as forecasted (100 percent chance of rain),  it was pouring and with the wicked wind all of the girls games were  postponed until a later date. Thursday morning it was still raining, but in the afternoon the sun came out again, and almost everywhere but here in Elk Point the games were cancelled due to wet infields.

At Elk Point with our fabulous drainage into the gravel that is only inches below the surface, it was game on! Both of our Mosquitoes teams played at home this past Thursday. The Mosquitoes #1 losing to St. Paul 21-13. Slugger Nic “the Saint” Penner with two singles and a triple. Timmy “the Tank” Cardinal getting on base,  four for four times (twice walking and twice taking one for the team hit by pitch). The Mosquitoes #2 won against Bonnyville 18-15.

In AA action this past weekend the Lakeland Northstars Peewee team traveled to Coronation to play in a provincial round robin losing their first game to the top team in the league. The Lloydmister Twins took the game in the bottom of the 7th inning; 11-10.  “Mic Jager” Fontiane pitching four solid innings for the Northstars. Then playing back-to-back games with only a very short break, this one against a tough lefty chucker the host Coronation losing this one 14-11. the boys had a huge rally in the 6th inning scoring 7 runs and adding 2 more in the 7th.

On Sunday their game ended with a 13-13 tie. The game called due to time restraints. Kobe “the Cobra” Warawa and Jaden “Jetstream” Van Maarion both hitting well with strong games at the plate, each of them with some extra base hits. Andon “Ace” Ballas scooping up the hot grounders at first base and snagging some bad throws into the dirt, and others that went high and wide. At first base it’s very important to have a guy who can do that for you.

A very tough weekend for the Bantam AA  Sox team who traveled to St. Albert losing 3 out of 4 games, Next month the boys will be re-tiered and things will get better. A single and a home run for Dalton “007” Reed in the game they won over St. Albert. “Hammering Hank” Rogal with two singles in the same game. Our Midget AA players Kaiden “K Rock” Evans Anderson and Braden “Magnet” Fairbairn won 2 out of 3 this past weekend playing for Jim Church and the Bonnyville Braves Midget AA team. K Rock getting three K s in two innings pitched, Magnet with a couple of great assist playing on third base. Both of them doing well at the plate.

And now for the K.A. Campbell quote of the week. ‘ ‘To all my faults my eyes are blind. Mine are the sins I cannot find. But your mistakes I see aplenty. For them my eyes are 20/20.” – Henry l. Jansen