AXEMEN BRING OUT THE BROOMS IN BARRHEAD

For the second season in a row, the Camrose Axemen were able to defeat the Barrhead Orioles via a double header sweep with 7-4 and 8-2 wins. It was the first ever franchise trip to Barrhead for the Axemen which would see the two teams play eleven innings in game one. The pair of wins for the Axemen move them to 4-2 on the season and extends their current winning streak to four while the Orioles slide to 2-4 on the year.

 

Game 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E	L
Camrose Axemen	0	0	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	7	6	5	8
Barrhead Orioles	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	11	3	9

Win - Kyle Muzechka (1-0)     Loss - Cornelius Friesen     Save - Corey Epp (1)

Game 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E	L
Camrose Axemen	0	0	0	0	6	0	2	8	8	4	11
Barrhead Orioles	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	5	2	9

Win - Blair Mulder (1-1)     Loss - Craig Connolly

 

Game one treated fans to a back and forth affair through the first few innings as the teams would trade runs until the sixth inning before taking another five innings to produce anymore offence. Starting game one was Joe Pasychnyk for the Axemen and countering him from the Orioles was Cornelius Friesen, who by the end of the game would have pitched all eleven innings for the O's.

 

The Orioles were the first to get on the board when first baseman Jason Schaffrick would score on a one out RBI single from right fielder Jason Kramm in the bottom of the second inning. The inning would see a small outburst of offence from the Orioles against Pasychynk as they would collect for singles in the inning, but would be limited to only one run as the Axemen would get two big outs with the bases loaded to keep it a 1-0 game through two innings.

 

The lead would shift in favour of the Axemen in the top of the third inning when the boys in red would capitalize on an error to Orioles third baseman Ryan Wareheim to allow designated hitter Dennis Landriault to reach base to lead off the inning. The lead off error would be costly as left fielder and eventual Axemen Player of the Game Cal Zimmer would move Landriault over on the sacrifice bunt setting up a RBI triple by shortstop Chance Wheatle, the team's fourth already in 2015.The Axemen would take the lead on a RBI ground out off the bat of third baseman Dylan Borman to give Camrose the 2-1 advantage until the top of the fifth inning.

 

2015 - 5 - Through 9 games

2014 - 6 - 29 games

2013 - 2 - 28 games

2012 - 6 - 37 games

2011 - 5 - 27 games

2010 - 0 - 23 games

2009 - 2 - 16 games

2008 - 2 - 22 games

 

In the top of the fifth inning the Axemen would take a 3-1 lead when left fielder Cal Zimmer would come in to score on a double steal. With one out short stop Chance Wheatley would bait Orioles catcher Dean Rau into a throw to second base on an attempted steal. While Wheatley was being called out on the tag, Zimmer would easily stroll across home plate to extend the lead in a game that looked like offense was going to be hard to come by with Pasychynk and Friesen throwing well for their respective teams. The Orioles though were able to string together some offence in the home half of the fifth inning to erase the deficit and take the lead on three runs with two outs off of Pasychnyk. Already with two quick outs second baseman Joey Greilech would get aboard via a single before being moved into scoring position on a walk to short stop Warren Wareheim. A Jason Schaffrick RBI single would score Greilech from second and Wareheim from first on a misplay by centre fielder Jordan Riopel allowing Schaffrick to reach second base on the single. It was costly as Orioles catcher Dean Rau would flare one down the right field line to score the third run of the inning with Barrhead taking the lead 4-3 through five complete. With storm clouds rolling in the distance, the game looked like it could be a shortend game.

 

Due to an accident on Highway 33 about 20km south of Orioles Park in Barrhead, outfielder Blair Mulder was unable to make the starting lineup of the game which had already been delayed due to the Axemen and umpires having to deal with a highway closure as a result of the accident. After sitting on the bench for the first five innings, Mulder was inserted into the line up top pinch hit in the sixth inning and would make an immediate impact. Freisen would walk catcher Riley Guntrip to lead off the sixth inning, which would be costly as Mulder would connect on a one out RBI double to score Guntrip who reached second base one batter earlier on a ground out. The run would tie the game for the Axemen at 4-4 before a tiring Friesen would gear up to strike out right fielder Cody Rude and designated hitter Dennis Landriault to end the inning with a runner in scoring position.

 

Innings seven through ten for both teams yielded no offence as both the Orioles and the Axemen struggled to score multiple runners in scoring position. The Axemen would turn to reliever Kyle Muzechka to get them through the stretch and give the offence an opportunity to put something together against Friesen. Muzechka would pitch fantastically for the Axemen over his four innings of work holding the Orioles to a single hit while striking out three while keeping any runner who managed to get into scoring position stranded on the base paths. The defensive play of the game (or base running miscue of the game depending on what side you are looking at it from) came in the bottom of the ninth when pinch hitter Patty O'Brien would be thrown out at third base after reaching safely on a single and getting put into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Axemen short stop Chance Wheatley would have an easy out when he would field a ground ball cleanly and make the easy throw to third baseman Dylan Borman for the tag as O'Brien broke on contact for third. It turned out to be a costly mistake for the Orioles who had their 1-2-3 hitters coming to bat with what could have been the winning run in scoring position with only one out. The great pitching eventually paid off as the Axemen would finally put up some runs against Friesen in the top of the eleventh inning,

 

Blair Mulder would lead off the inning with a single off the end of the bat into right field and would eventually get moved into scoring position when Dennis Landriault would be issued a walk, the ninth and final walk surrendered by Friesen on the afternoon. Mulder would steal third base on a great jump putting runners at the corners for left fielder Cal Zimmer. Held hitless so far in the game, but in typical Zimmer fashion had a pair of walks already, the veteran would clutch up and hit a line drive into right field that would elude the Orioles fielder on a charging dive for a two RBI triple to put the Axemen up 6-4. With more to get, short stop Chance Wheatley would give the Axemen some more insurance with a RBI ground out to second base to put the game at 7-4.

 

With a one run lead heading into the bottom of the eleventh inning the Axemen would dip into the bullpen again and turn to right hander Corey Epp to close out the game. The seven year veteran would pitch his way to his first save of the season and third in his career by striking out a pair of Orioles, including second baseman Joey Greilech to end the game.

 

The line for Friesen in the loss for the Orioles could only have led to an incredibly high pitch count which if just the minimum for a walk (4 pitches) and a strike out (3 pitches) were counted, gave the right hander 75 total pitches with an additional 29 pitches if you count each hit, error or putout as one pitch as well. To add to the total was the patience and long at bats that the Axemen had inning after inning against the Barrhead native who would continue to throw well even with the high pitch count and eleven innings of work. Cornelius Friesen - 11IP, 13 K, 9 BB, 6 H, 7 R, 5 ER

 

As a result of the delay in starting game one as well as the eleven long innings played, game two did not start until well after 5:00pm making a long Sunday for both teams. Game two would see the Axemen send left hander Blair Mulder against Orioles pitcher Craig Connoly. Mulder would once again pitch great for the Axemen stretching out to provide six innings of quality innings allowing five hits and one unearned run before giving way to the Axemen bullpen of Corey Epp and Kyle Muzechka. During his six innings of work Mulder would continue to improve on his control issues by only surrendering a long walk and hitting one batter, leaving the Orioles without a runner in scoring position until the fourth inning. The unearned run against Mulder would come in the fourth inning when back to back errors to the Axemen would be followed up by a Brent Grableu RBI single to score Connolly to make it a 1-0 Orioles lead at the time. 

 

With Mulder pitching well, the Axemen offence would finally get to Connolly in the top of the fifth inning as eleven hitters would come to bat and leaving with a 6-1 lead. Back to back singles by Cal Zimmer and Chance Wheatley to start the inning would lead to a bases loaded situation after Connolly would drill Ryan Petryshyn with a pitch which appeared to be the unravelling point for the O's. A two out error off of the bat of Joe Pasychnyk would make it a 1-1 game as Zimmer would come in to score from third while Kris Kushnerick would wear a 0-2 pitch from Connolly with the bases loaded, his second hit batter of the inning, to extend the lead to 2-1 without the Orioles recording an out. Catcher Riley Guntrip would play some unselfish baseball and record the RBI ground out for a 3-1 Axemen lead ahead of another error by the Orioles defence would open the flood gates for another three runs for the Axemen, capped off by Cal Zimmer's second single of the inning, this time an RBI single to score Dylan Borman from third base.

 

It would be a lead that the Axemen would not give up. In the bottom of the sixth inning Mulder would surrender back to back to back two out singles to the Orioles, but the combination of right fielder Kris Kushnerick and catcher Dennis Landriault would end the inning on a 9-2-5 put out of Barrhead's Jason Schaffrick who rounded third too far. A strong throw by Kushnerick changed the first baseman's mind about scoring and despite trying to scramble back to third base would be cut down by a great throw from catcher Dennis Landriault for Dylan Borman to apply the tag and end the inning.

 

The 8-2 win for the Axemen moves the team to a 4-2 record and their fourth straight win after starting the season with disappointing loses to the Sturgeon Paladins (19-5) and the Edmonton Athletics (9-2). The team appears to be playing better with each game, getting big pitching performances and key outs by a defence which has not been able to find its stride yet. The Axemen will now take on the Edmonton Indians at John Frye Park on Tuesday June 2 at 7:15pm for the team's third game in four days and fourth in less then a week before getting an eight day break. 

 

Injury Note: Axemen rookie catcher Riley Guntrip would sustain a hamstring injury on his stand up double in the fourth inning of game two but is not expected to miss much time, especially with the Axemen having eight days off between Tuesday's game against the Edmonton Indians and the June 10th game against the Stony Plain Mets. The Axemen are well stocked at the catcher position, with Dennis Landriault and Kris Johnson also providing quality innings behind the plate. 

 

Tuesday June 2 at Edmonton Indians - John Frye Park (7:15pm)

Wednesday June 10 at Stony Plain Mets - Centennial Diamond 2 (7:15pm)

Wednesday June 17 vs Sherwood Park Athletics - Harry Andreassen Field (7:15pm)