Monarchs nearly come all the way back

The Medicine Hat Moose Monarchs came within one swing of a monumental comeback victory to kick off their American Legion AA baseball season Friday at the Vauxall Academy Jets Invitational.

The Monarchs trailed 5-0 early, then 9-4 entering the final inning, but managed to leave with their heads high after narrowing the gap to one and putting the tying run on board in a 9-8 loss to the Calgary Junior Dinos.

“I told them going into that last inning, I said ‘Let’s have out best at-bats of the game and hopefully get the tying run to the plate.’ We did that and had a chance to win it there too,” said Monarchs head coach Skyler Stromsmoe. “That was really nice, to see the team come back and compete like that.”

The Monarchs managed to keep the Dinos on their toes with some disciplined approaches at the plate and some timely small ball. Despite being held to just four hits, the Monarchs drove in eight RBI across five players.

Third baseman Cole Schreiber led the pack with 3 RBI in a 1-for 3 showing at the plate, while Catcher Braydon Pudwell followed up with 2 RBI on a pair of fielder’s choices.

Stromsmoe added he expects the bats to heat up as the weekend progresses, especially given the spirit shown from his team in Friday’s loss.

“It’s Game 1 for us for the season. A lot of guys haven’t had a lot of at-bats this year yet, some of the college guys,” said Stromsmoe. “This was kind of a good way to get our feet wet. They showed some good fight and compete in them today and that was what I was looking for it.”

Monarchs starting pitcher Brady Close was touched up for seven runs on 10 hits, taking the loss after six complete innings of work.

Kade Krauss took the hill to close out the game in the seventh, allowing two runs on two hits with a walk and a strikeout.

The Monarchs will look to climb back up the tournament standings Saturday with back-to-back games against the host Vauxhall Academy at 11:30 a.m. and the Lethbridge Elks at 2:30 p.m.

“It’ll be nice to get back at it,” said Stromsmoe. “We’re going to see some good teams in both Vauxhall and Lethbridge so we’ll see how we’ll stack up there.”

The Monarchs close out group play Sunday against the Great Falls Chargers at 1 p.m.

The top two teams in the tournament will advance to the championship game, slated for Sunday at 4 p.m.

The K of C Knights settled for a split to open their season Friday night in Lethbridge at the Ron Matthews Memorial tournament.

While they opened with a 7-4 loss at the hands of the host Miners, the Knights battled into a win column Friday evening with a 4-1 win over the Fort Macleod Royals.

Knights second baseman Ethan Bartram drove in two runs in his team’s win over Fort Macleod — bouncing back from a hitless effort that morning — while Ashtyn Street went 2-for-3. Ethan Loran drove in a pair of runs in their loss to Lethbridge.

Street took the loss on the hill after allowing seven runs — three earned — on five hits in 4 and 2/3 innings, while Ethan Boutkan earned the win over Fort Macleod after holding the Royals to one run on three hits. The Knights continue the tournament Saturday with games against the Lethbridge Lakers and Vauxhall Spurs.