One step forward, one step back.
That seems to be the way things are going for the midget ‘AAA’ Parkland Expos of the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League as of late, as the Expos have shown improvement recently but are still struggling to put together victories, going 3-5 over the past eight games to give themselves an overall record of 5-9, good enough for second last in the 10-team SPBL ‘AAA’ Division.
The Muenster Red Sox continue to lead the way with a 7-1 record, while the Saskatoon Cubs sit second at 5-3. The Swift Current Indians are third at 7-5, the Regina Expos are fourth with a record of 5-4 while the Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Twins round out the top half of the league with a record of 6-5.
The Saskatoon Diamondbacks find themselves in sixth with an even 4-4 record, the Regina Athletics are seventh at 6-7 and the Saskatoon Giants are eighth with a record of 3-5. Parkland is ninth at 5-9 while the Northwest Prairie Pirates round out the standings in last place, losers of their last four with a record of 2-8.
May 7 and 8
The Expos opened up their eight game stretch with six straight home games, first splitting a double-header with the third place Swift Current Indians, dropping Game One 10-8 before hammering the Indians 11-1.
Bantam-aged rookie Gregor Farquharson took the Game One loss. The 14-year-old hurler surrendered six earned runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out three over five complete innings. Offensively Cole Rathgeber led the Expos. The talented middle infielder went 2-for-4 with three RBI in the loss.
Game Two proved to be much different, as the Expos’ offence continued to roll while their defence and pitching also stood tall in an 11-1 victory.
Expo ace Tyson Black went the distance for the win giving up just one run on five hits while striking out four Indian batters over six innings. Black also helped out his own cause in the game; the pitcher drove in three runs and went 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of triples.
The following day (Sunday, May 8) the Expos welcomed the Saskatoon Diamondbacks to Jubilee Park. Unfortunately things didn’t go Parkland’s way on the day, as they dropped both ends of a twin-bill, falling 8-3 in Game One before being trounced 19-4 in Game Two.
Kaito Farquharson started in Game One and struggled with his command, giving up three runs on five hits and six walks while striking out six over four innings, but it was rookie Braden Kitchen that picked up the loss.
The rookie got no help from his defence in the fifth inning, surrendering four runs with just one being earned while walking two batters in just two-third of an inning of work.
Game Two was even worse for the Expos as they had a hard time keeping Saskatoon off the scoreboard in two of the five innings they played, giving up 10 runs in the third and eight in the fifth in a 19-4 loss. Kyle Rathgeber picked up the loss on the mound going 1.2 innings and giving up eight runs, half of which were earned, on four hits and five walks. Offensively both Cole Rathgeber and Caleb Bymak had a multi-hit game. Bymak was 2-for-3 while Cole Rathgeber also went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
May 14
On Saturday, May 14 the Parkland Expos were back in action, this time hosting the Northwest Prairie Pirates at Jubilee Park.
Game One saw the Expos put together a near-perfect game as just three Pirate players reached base, all via a walk, in what was ultimately a 2-0 Parkland victory.
Expos’ starting pitcher Tyson Black came just one out away from the complete game no-hitter. The talented third year pitcher gave up three walks and struck out six batters over 6.2 inning of work for the win before turning the ball over to Grady Hawkins due to the pitch count rule.
Black (1-for-3, RBI) also picked up one of the three Parkland hits in Game One, while Caleb Bymak (1-for-3) and Gregor Farquharson (1-for-3) had the other hits in the victory.
The second game of the double-header did not go the way the Expos had hoped, as the visiting Pirates put up four crooked numbers over seven innings while Parkland managed just one run in total in a 16-1 defeat.
Grady Hawkins took the loss giving up seven runs on six hits and three walks over just 1.1 innings of work while the Expo offence continued to struggle, managing just four hits and one run off of Northwest starter Trent Kusch.
May 20 and 21
This past weekend the Parkland Expos hit the road for a pair of games at the SPBL Selects tournament in Saskatoon.
In the opening contest the Expos took on the hometown Saskatoon Cubs and, led by stellar pitching by Black, picked up a 3-2 win.
Black once again put together a strong performance on the mound. The third year veteran surrendered just two runs on five hits while striking out eight over seven innings for his fourth win of the season.
Offensively Caleb Bymak led the way. The hulking right fielder went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the win, while Black (1-for-3) and Joseph Sliva (1-for-2, walk) also drove in a run apiece in the win.
The second game of the weekend saw the Expos take on the Swift Current Indians with the hopes of moving to within two games of .500.
Unfortunately that was not to be, as the Expos gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh to lose in walk-off fashion, 5-4 to the Indians.
Grady Hawkins took the loss for the Expos in relief, giving up two runs (one earned) on one hit and two walks over 1.2 innings of work.
Up next
This weekend the Expos are back in action as they return to Saskatoon for a pair of double-headers.
On Saturday the Expos (5-9) take on the Saskatoon Cubs (5-3) for a pair of games at Cairns Field. Sunday they’ll be at Cairns once again, but this time the opponent will be the Saskatoon Diamondbacks (4-4).
