Both the ‘A´¡´¡â€™ and ‘A´¡â€™ Parkland Expos midget baseball teams have found themselves falling on hard times as of late as both teams are mired in SPBL high losing streaks.
‘A´¡´¡â€™
The ‘A´¡´¡â€™ Parkland Expos opened the season flying high but have since lost their last five games including four last week, first falling to the Regina Athletics 15-3 last Wednesday, May 20.
Cole Rathgeber got the start on the mound for Parkland in Regina but did not last long, going just two innings and surrendering nine runs (seven earned) on eight hits and two walks while striking out one. Jordan Bieber didn’t fare much better in relief, getting knocked around for six runs on six hits and a pair of walks in just 1.1 innings of work.
Offensively Taylor Elmy and Kyle Rathgeber led the way for the ‘A´¡´¡â€™ Expos. Elmy went 1-for-2 at the plate with a walk and two runs scored while Kyle Rathgeber went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
The Parkland Expos looked to rebound from their loss on Wednesday with at least one win on Saturday, May 3 at Jubilee Park against the Muenster Red Sox but unfortunately the Expos dropped both ends of a doubleheader against league leading Muenster 7-1 and 6-0.
Tyson Black shouldered the loss in Game One despite pitching relatively well, giving up seven runs (four earned) on nine hits and three walks while striking out eight. Jake Holinaty led the Expos offence in Game One with a 2-for-2, one walk performance.
Game Two went much the same as Game One, with the Expos offence being nearly non-existent while Muenster managed to score five in the second inning and add one more run late in the game to sweep the doubleheader. Kholton Shewchuk picked up the loss, his first of the campaign, after going five innings in which he gave up five runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks.
Tyson Black led the Game Two offence with a 2-for-3 game that included his first triple of the season.
The final defeat of the weekend came at the hands of the second place Saskatoon Diamondbacks, however it was the defence and not the offence that proved to be Parkland’s downfall in their fifth consecutive loss as the Expos squandered a six run lead to lose the game 16-12 and fall to 3-7 on the season.
Caleb Bymak took the loss as he got roughed up, giving up nine earned runs on seven hits and two walks in a game where he could not escape the third inning, pitching just 2.1 innings. Taylor Elmy and Matt Wilgosh led the Expos offensively in the loss as both had three hit games. Elmy went 3-for-4 with a triple, a walk and an RBI while Wilgosh also went 3-for-4 but drove in three runs.
The five straight losses leave the ‘A´¡´¡â€™ Expos with a 3-7 record thru 10 games in the SPBL ‘A´¡´¡â€™ Division, good enough for eighth place in the 10-team league. Muenster leads the way with a 6-1 record, followed by the Saskatoon Diamondbacks at 8-4, Regina Athletics at 8-5 and Saskatoon Cubs at 4-3.
The Regina Expos are in fifth with a 5-4 record while Swift Current sits in sixth place at 5-5. The Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Legacy Twins are in seventh with a 4-7 record, one spot ahead of the 3-7 Parkland Expos.
The Saskatoon Giants (2-5) and Northwest Prairie Pirates (2-6) round out the standings.
‘A´¡â€™
The ‘A´¡â€™ Parkland Expos continued their rocky start to their 2015 campaign dropping two more games to fall to 0-6 on the season.
The ‘A´¡â€™ Expos were thumped by the Assiniboia Aces 16-4 in Game One and 23-5 in Game Two to sit last in the 17-team SPBL ‘A´¡â€™ Division. The Humboldt Dodgers lead the way with a perfect 9-0 record while defending ‘A´¡â€™ provincial champion Northeast is second with a record of 7-1.
Moose Jaw’s in third at 7-2 and Weyburn rounds out the top four with a 6-1 record.
Next up
The next action for the ‘A´¡â€™ Parkland Expos (0-6) is this Sunday, May 31, when they travel to Regina in the hopes of ending their losing streak and getting in the win column when they take on the Regina White Sox (2-6) for a twin-bill.
The next action for the ‘A´¡´¡â€™ Parkland Expos is tonight when they take on the Regina Expos in the second instalment of the ‘Battle of the Expos’ at Regina’s Optimist Field.