IN A SIZZLING AFFAIR WHERE RUNS CAME AT A PREMIUM, THE ROYALS EKE OUT A VICTORY OVER THE LIZZIES AT CHRISTIE PITS
ROYAL TRIFECTA > Three Royals pitchers combined to limit the Lizzies to one run over five innings. Top to bottom: Thomas (11) pitched a scoreless second with a strikeout; Owen (14) tossed two scoreless innings with three K’s; Tyler (7) threw two stellar innings with four strikeouts.
Under the lights on quaint September evening at Christie Pits Diamond 2, the Royals defeated the Lizzies 4-1 in five sizzling innings of Peewee Division round robin tournament action.
In a well played affair that took under 85 minutes to complete, runs came at a high premium as solid pitching and strong defense from both teams dominated the proceedings. The Royals ultimately prevailed as they took advantage of the few offensive opportunities that were available.
Lizzies starter John Eric (2) struck out three in the top of the first to keep the Royals off the scoring ledger.
Jack (7) slides home safely with the Lizzies lone run in the first inning.
The Lizzies scored a run in the bottom of the first to jump out in front 1-0. After a one out walk and stolen base, Jack (7) motored home on a Jays error to score the first run of the game.
However, Royals starter Tyler (7) mowed down two during the inning to quell the Lizzies uprising.
With some help from his friends, Lizzies reliever Marcus (8) dodged a bullet and extricated himself from a bases loaded jam in the top of the second and kept the Royals off the scoreboard.
In the bottom of the second, Royals reliever Thomas (11) struck out two Lizzies in business like fashion to keep them off the scoresheet.
The Royals exercised patience at the plate and made hay of seven walks issued by the Lizzies to score four and take a 4-1 lead in the top of the third. Scoring for the Royals were Owen (14), Tyler (7), Jacob (3) and Thomas (11).
Royals reliever Owen (14) was in the zone in the bottom of the third as he mowed down the Lizzies in 1-2-3 fashion with three strikeouts to keep them off the scoring abacus.
Lizzies reliever Maxwell (13) replied in kind in the top of the fourth as he struck out three Royals to keep them at bay.
In the bottom of the fourth, Owen retired all three Lizzies that he faced with some major help from his fellow Royals. The defensive highlight of the inning was a spectacular unassisted double play made by second baseman Adam (9). With no outs and a Lizzies base runner on second, Adam snared a SEARIN’-SMOKIN’-HOT TAMALE line drive off the bat of Jack to rob him of a sure hit. Then, Adam ran to second to tag out the wayfaring Lizzies base runner to complete the double putout.
John Eric of the Lizzies came back into the fray in the top of the fifth to whiff two Royals to keep his team within three.
However, Tyler of the Royals came back to the mound in the bottom of the fifth to strike out a pair of Lizzies to seal the deal on a hard fought victory.
In a deja vu, the Royals (1-0) will host the Lizzies (0-1) again on Friday, September 6 at Christie Pits Diamond 2 in their next round robin tournament game at 7:45 p.m.
Same bat channel. Same bat time. Stay tuned.