On June 18th, the Sylvan Lake Gulls era officially began. Typically the box score can be found on the Western Canadian Baseball League site but game recaps are more miss than swing. If I may and when I can, I swing for the fences to give fans the nicety of a game recap based purely off of the box score.
While the Edmonton Prospects earned the win on Opening Night, honestly though Opening Night was still a win for everyone involved, your Gulls have just finished a home and home sweep of their Highway 2 counterparts. On June 22nd in Sylvan Lake, the Gulls won 14-5. After an off-day for the Club (the Prospects played in Spruce Grove), the Gulls played the Prospects in Sherwood Park on June 24th beating them 14-0.
JUNE 22 AT HOME
The Gulls jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening frame. The big hit being a RBI triple off the bat of Kyle Froehlich
Gulls starting pitcher Kyle Smyth struggled with his control in the top of the second inning allowing the Prospects to close the gap to 3-2. Smyth would come back out for one more inning on the mound collecting strikeouts three and four of his short start.
The Prospects starting pitcher would only last two innings as the Gulls scored 4 runs in the bottom of the second to make it a 7-2 game. With the bases loaded and 1-out, Brayden Cust would smack a single to right field relieving the bases of two runners. Froehlich would follow suit cashing in two more runs.
A pitching change by the Prospects did not slow down the Gulls offence as the Club would score 4 more runs in the bottom of the 3rd to make it an 11-2 game. The big hits in the inning were run scoring doubles by Cooper Jones and Cust.
Chas Wheatley pitched the 4th and 5th innings for your Gulls retiring the first five batters he faced. A walk and a single the only blemishes on his pitching line.
Jonah Arseneau struggled with his command pitching the top of the 6th giving up a run to the visitors but the Gulls offence picked him up in bottom half. With runners on 2nd and 3rd, Nolan Weger hit a double to right field scoring both making it a 13-3 ball game.
The Prospects added two in the top of the 7th and were threatening in the top of the 8th loading the bases with only one out. Enter Jake Finkelstein from the bullpen to slam the door shut on any comeback hopes. Finkelstein would induce back-to-back fly ball outs to keep the score at 13-5.
Weger would collect his 3rd RBI of the night in the bottom of 8th to bring us to our final score of 14-5.
JUNE 24 ON THE ROAD
Patience is a virtue. The Gulls batters took their walks and advanced on the base paths when the Prospects starter throw a wild pitch. It was already 3-0 when Zachary Olson hit a 2-run single to make it 5-0 for the road team. A loaded bases walk earned Olson his third RBI of the evening in the fifth inning making it 7-0 for the Gulls.
Gulls starting pitcher Tyler McWillie was magnificent. 5 shutout innings, retiring his last seven batters faced.
Jared Arnold put a zero in the bottom of the sixth. Newest member of the Gulls Brett Higgins pitched the 7th and 8th inning retiring all six batters he faced. What makes that feat impressive is that in between his two innings, the offence put up six runs.
The top of the 8th inning for the Gulls featured a 2-run Froehlich home run, he had already notched a RBI his previous at-bat in the 6th. The inning also featured 2-run singles by Dylan Edmands and Jones bringing us to our final score of 14-0.
Finnigan Duffield struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth and the team celebrated by walking through the Wendy’s drive thru.
NEXT FLIGHT:
June 26 and 27 in Okotoks against Okotoks Black.
Edmonton Sports Fan 