Monday, July 6 night was a good night for the Barrhead Orange Orioles, not just because the weather – which had looked mildly threatening for much of the day – played nice, but also because they beat the visiting Stony Plains Royals.
The game began slowly, almost like the teams were two fighters circling each other in an arena, in this case the ball diamond, seeking weaknesses, testing abilities, and by the beginning of the third inning the score was still 0-0, though the stalemate did not last much longer.
Starting pitcher Jimmy Hunter gave nothing away for much of the early part of the game, serving up only strikes, a few balls and the occasional pop-fly, yet the Royals managed one run on a walk, breaking the monotony and took and early 1 to 0 by the bottom of the inning.
Then everything changed.
Declan Kummer’s turn at bat produced a long drive to third base, and became the first run for Barrhead, tying the score at 1-1 at the start of the fourth, after Jon Klien hit hard and far, though Klien himself unfortunately got tagged at home-plate and Sawyer Trynchy made it only to first.
The Royals scored another run in the bottom of the fourth inning, bringing the score to 1-2, and looked like they were going to start widening the gap, as certain tongues wagging in the stands opined.
With the Royals leading by one run, Barrhead kept up support, often cheering each other on, rallying goodwill and team spirit, and went into the fifth like lions.
Jon Schembri and Darien Cyre both managed base-by-base runs closed the gap to 3-2 for Barrhead, and coach Steve Hunter switched up pitchers for the Royals’ turn at bat, giving Hunter a break and throwing Trynchy into the hot seat.
The Royal’s first batter made it to third and eventually, under the confusion of a collision between another player and Logan Branden, Barrhead’s first baseman, scored a run and tied the game for the second time - 3-3 - Trynchy’s pitching was furious and unrelenting, his fastball causing a flurry of outs in rapid succession and he gave nothing more away for the rest of the night.
In the top of the sixth, Trynchy made it to first, then stole his way to home plate, first to second, then to third, earning another run for Barrhead giving them a 4-3 lead.While the Royals fumbled and flopped their way around the diamond, managing nothing more exciting than a pop-fly.
The game was over when Klien was hit by a ball and walked to first in the ninth. While Trynchy and fellow teammate Zak Laun both managed to hit solid drives past the pitchers mound, they were both caught by Royals, and when Schrembri, hitting fourth in Barrhead’s batting lineup, managed to reach second base, Klein seized the moment to cinch the win for Barrhead, sliding into home plate and scored the last run, bringing the total to 5-3 for the home team.
