SWEEP OF THE ORIOLES BY THE AXEMEN

The Axemen completed their first ever home double header sweep tonight, as they would take two from the expansion Barrhead Orioles by scores of 4-2 and 9-3. The pair of wins moves the Axemen to within one game of the first place Edmonton Blackhawks heading into a matchup with the last place Sturgeon Paladins next Thursday before Camrose hosts the 2014 NCABL All-Star Game on July 22 at Harry Andreassen Field.

Win - Joe Pasychnyk (5-2)

Loss - Myles Shaw

Save - Kyle Muzechka (1)

Young right hander Joe Pasychnyk would get the nod from Manager Bryan Toles on a sunny and hot Sunday afternoon for game one. Pasychnyk entered the game already in the top ten for the wins in a season by an Axemen pitcher with four, and would jump up into a tie with Scott Peterson who won five games in each of the 2001, 2005 and 2008 seasons for the Armena/Camrose franchise. Pasychnyk would not disappoint through his 5.67 innings surrendering only three hits to the Orioles who looked to struggle against the ever changing pitch speeds. Ten of the sixteen outs that Pasychnyk would record in the win would come via the ground ball variety, including using a fine middle infield pairing of SS Chance Wheatley and 2B Ryan Petryshyn to record three double plays in the game. Pasychynk would leave the game in the fifth inning in favor of closer Kyle Muzechka with the bases loaded. Muzechka would pitch well for the Axemen to earn the five out save, allowing only a pair of singles while striking out two in the seventh inning to record his first save of the season and first since July 31 2012 against the Edmonton Athletics.

Offensively for the Axemen they would chip away at Orioles starting pitcher Myles Shaw, who seemed to avoid the big break out innings time and time again by stranding nine runners on base, six of which were left in scoring position. Shaw would pitch a complete game in the loss while giving up a total of twelve hits as six of the starting nine Axemen would record at least one hit with five players recording a multi-hit game. SS Chance Wheatley would be named the Axemen Game MVP of game one through both his defensive play, five assists and three putouts, and his production at the plate finishing the day 3 for 4 with a RBI double in the second inning, a pair of singles and a pair of runs scored. After running wild against the Edmonton Warriors the previous game, the Axemen were limited to only one stolen base on the feet of Wheatley, which would lead to the fourth and final run of the game for the team in the fourth inning. 

Wheatley would get the offence going in the home half of the first inning by collecting a one out single and advancing to second base on an error to CF Dave Gottschalk of the Orioles. C John Kelndorfer would continue to drive in runs for the Axemen as he would collect his first of two RBIs on the afternoon by scoring Wheatley from second base for a 1-0 Camrose lead. Wheatley would once again be involved with the scoring in the second inning for the Axemen's second run by driving in 3B Ryan Mehler on a RBI double to the gap. The third inning would see a pair of doubles by the Axemen to extend the lead to 3-0 as 2B Ryan Petryshyn would lead the inning off with another double on the season for the longtime Edmonton Warrior before scoring on a passed ball to C Nathan Fontaine. P Joe Pasychnyk would hit another double in the inning but Shaw would avoid anymore damage by getting a pair of ground outs to end the inning keeping the game at 3-0. The fourth and final run of the game for the Axemen would once again see Kelndorfer driving in Wheatley on a RBI single after Wheatley reached on a single of his own before stealing second base to get into scoring position. While it was not a lot of runs crossing the plate, the Axemen were able to do enough damage against a well pitched game by Shaw to secure the teams eleventh win of the season. 

Win - Cory Martz (3-0)

Loss - Craig Connelly 

In game two the Orioles would come out swining against Axemen starting pitcher Steve Enright, who with a bad hip flexor and pitching on three days rest, would head to the hill to make his debut with the red and black in 2014. Enright who on Thursday pitched a marvelous 11-0 victory over the Killam Braves while pitching for the Rosalind Athletics, would start the game a little shaky in the first inning and quickly find himself down 2-0. 

Orioles 3B Cornelius Friesen would start the game by getting hit by pitch before stealing second to quickly give Barrhead a scoring opportunity early in the game. Enright would sling a pair of strikeouts to 2B Joey Grelich and CF Jason Schaffrick, but a two out RBI double to SS Warren Warehime would make it 1-0 Orioles and extend the inning. On the play CF Cal Zimmer would seemingly have a catchable ball to hopefully get out of the inning, but a misstep in the outfield would cause the veteran out fielder to slip and have to play the ball in the gap. DH Lyle Schaffrick would give the Orioles their second run due to the play as he would chip a single over the head of 2B Ryan Petryshyn and infront of RF Kris Johnson to make it 2-0 as 2014 NCABL All-Star SS Warren Warehime would come home to make it 2-0. 

Unfazed by the early 2-0 deficit the Axemen would respond and put up three runs in the bottom half of the inning to get Enright back onto the hill with the lead for the second inning. SS Chance Wheatley would reach base on a one out error to 2B Joey Gerlich and then promptly steal second and third on the battery of Connelly and C Dean Rau. C John Kelndorfer would get hit by a pitch before the Axemen would hit back to back to back base hits to make it a 3-2 game. 2B Ryan Petrsyhyn would collect a RBI single and DH Braedon Majeski would hit a first pitch single to score the second run of the inning before RF Kris Johnson would hit a RBI double for the last run of the inning. 

Both Connelly and Enright would settle down as the Orioles would tie the game up in the third inning on an error to SS Chance Wheatley would allow 2B Joe Grelich, who reached on a double, to score the third Orioles run. With the game tied, the Axemen offence finally awoke after a productive first inning to score six in the fifth inning to blow the game open and secure the win. CF Cal Zimmer would lead off the inning with a single, but SS Chance Wheatley would follow up with what looked to be a sure double play as SS Warren Warehime would get a great chest high hop for the flip and the potential 6-4-3 double play. Instead Warehime appeared to lose focus on the ball and it would pop out of the glove allowed both Zimmer and Wheatley to be called safe. The play was costly as the very next pitch to C John Kelndorfer was turned around 320' over the left centre fence to make it a 6-3 game on the veteran catcher's second home run of the season. The Axemen would not be done as 2B Ryan Petryshyn and DH Braedon Majeski would for the second time in the game hit back to back singles with still on one out for the home team. After finally getting a hitter out, the seventh hitter the Axemen lineup, LF Kris Kushnerick, would keep the hits coming as he would send a line drive double to the left centre gap fence to score Petryshyn and Majeksi, extending the lead to 8-3. Kushnerick would score the ninth Axemen run when the very next batter, 1B Brett Harke, would drive him in on a line drive single to right field allowing the left fielder to score from second base. After eleven batters, seven hits and six runs, the Orioles would finally escape the inning but at the cost of a 9-3 Axemen lead. 

After Enright was removed from the game, Manager Bryan Toles went to P Cory Martz out of the pen to hold the Orioles scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings. Martz would find himself in a bases loaded, one out jam in the fifth inning but DH Lyle Schaffrick would hit into the inning ending 5-2-3 double play as 3B Dan Enright would field the ball cleanly and throw a strike to Kelndorfer who in turn would gun down the designated hitter at first. Toles would go to the pen in the seventh inning and bring in P Kyle Muzechka for the second time in the afternoon to quickly go through the Orioles two, three, four and five hitters. Only CF Jason Schaffrick would reach, an error to SS Chance Wheatley in the non-save situation for Muzechka.

The Axemen now sit at 12-4 on the season, ahead of the 11-4 Westlock Red Lions but behind the first place Blackhawks who are in cruise control at 13-3 and looking to secure the NCABL Pennant. Heading into the game, the 8-6 Barrhead Orioles had an outside chance at the playoffs, but with the sweep and a now 8-8 record with only four games to go, the Orioles would have to run the table and get a lot of help to catch the Axemen, Red Lions or Mets. The Axemen will now travel to Bon Accord on Thursday night to take on the Sturgeon Paladins at Archie Jenkins Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15pm.