Monarchs Offence Strikes Again

By: Simon Chan

For the third week in a row, the Monarch offence steamrolled its way to 23 runs in a convincing victory. This time, it was a 23-10 victory over The Specials, which occurred with Jamie Sabid, Sean Lam, and Ryan Mitchell as game day scratches, forcing a 4 girl infield and the call-up of CF/LF David Bowie from the Monarch farm team.

“It doesn’t matter who we put out there the way we’re hitting,” Monarch LF/R Travis Dingle said. “3 girls, 4 girls, newbies, farm team subs, it just doesn’t matter. If you put a 5 year old in a Monarch jersey, I bet you he’d get a couple of hits.”

“All the hits were falling in,” RF Trevor Moore commented after the game. “Especially for me, it didn’t matter if it was a popup, ground ball, or fly ball, it’s like the ball had eyes tonight. It always found a hole.”

“That’s what she said,” replied 3B Kevin Wong.

Rookies C Lindsey Kurach and minor league call-up Bowie performed well as they contributed to the Monarch hit parade.

“The rust is going away, and I’m starting to feel my way around. I’m getting comfortable using the big stick,” Lindsey said in a post-game interview.

“That’s what she said,” answered Bowie.

The game was marred by some controversial officiating from the other team, including a couple of strikes that were deemed too low by the home plate umpire supplied by The Specials, one of which negated a strikeout.

“I can tell why they call themselves The Specials, because that was some special umpiring,” P Simon Chan said bitterly after the game. “The minimum height of the pitch is 6 feet. If I’m underhanding it to the plate, it’s impossible for it to hit the mat without going over 6 feet unless I’m windmilling it in there. It’s mathematically impossible.”

“He’s Asian, so I wouldn’t question his math. That’s like insulting his honor,” 2B Erin Melanson added.

Another questionable play occurred when The Specials’ first base umpire claimed that 1B Alicia Kurach’s foot came off first base as she went to catch a throw from SS Amanda Sturies, despite another teammate calling the runner out.

“Well then that must be a big rock I felt under my foot,” an infuriated Alicia shot back at the umpire.

“That play was my fault,” Sturies said after the game. “I didn’t throw it at her milk twins, so she had to stretch a little.”

“I don’t understand why Amanda didn’t aim for Alicia’s boobs to begin with. Everybody else shoots there,” noted R/CF Brad Dingle.

In the end, the Monarchs were able to overcome the adversity and cruise to victory after holding The Specials to a couple of scoreless innings while hitting for the 7 run maximum in one of their own.

Like Riding a Bike

The mighty Monarchs used their offseason to rest, relax, and reload. So when the new summer season started the message was clear, "we are champions, so we don't have to try" encouraged RF Sean Lam in the pre-game huddle. New Monarch captain Jamie "Rhubarb" Sabid lost the season opening coin toss and the Monarchs were sent to the plate as the visiting team. However, the Monarchs were missing several players including Alicia and Lindsay Kurach, Kevin Wong, and Chris Dew. And because the Monarchs were missing both of the Kurach sisters, leaving them with only Amanda Sturies and Erin Melanson, the Monarchs should have been forced to have an automatic out in the batting order; luckily for the Monarchs, the Linaria Mustangs allowed them to forgo the out and simply rotate their ladies through the batting order and play with one less player in the field. A decision that may have cost them in the end.

The Monarchs won their new green and yellow T-shirts on the strength of a solid defence but turned the tide with their red hot batting. And the bats continued to rolls for the Monarchs as defending champions cruised to a 23-10 victory tuesday night. In the first inning the Monarchs recorded 6 runs while batting through the entire order. In the second, three more. However, the Linaria Mustangs were not about to roll over. They Mustangs changed the defensive and moved their RF to rover and strengthed the outfield significantly.

The Monarchs struggled through innings three and four recording zero runs. The Monarchs, despite playing with only nine players and without a rover, played galiantly in the opening three innings allowing the Linaria Mustangs two runs. The defence was anchored with solid defence by a displaced Brad Dingle, playing CF and not his normal R. The Monarch CF made two excellent plays, one was a long fly ball that appeared to be headed over Dingle's head but Brad ranged back and snagged the fly ball and sent it into second base for a double play. Another excellent effort by Dingle was in the third inning when a Mustang batter sent a hard shot into the gap between the two Dingle's. Brad was able to cover enough ground to make a spectacular stretching grab robbing the batter of atleast two bags. After three innings the Monarchs seemed to have a commanding 9-2 lead.

But in the fourth, the Mustangs were able to hold the Monarchs off the board for the second straight inning and the Monarchs collapsed with a terrible defensive half. The Monarchs had their traditional error-filled inning and allowed the maximum seven runs. The outfield was unable to make key plays and the infield was marred by a few overthrown sure outs. The score after four was 9-9. But the Monarchs flexed their champion muscles.

The Monarchs quickly put the fourth inning behind them and struck back with two runs in the top of the fifth. The resurgence was helped by great hitting from Erin Melanson, who ripped two or three balls out of the infield, and Amanda Sturies, who recovered from a rough start at the plate. The ladies got on the bats and were instrumental in keeping innings alive. And the defence rebounded to its championship form. In the final three innings the defence stiffened up. Monarch all-star pitcher Simon Chan rejoined the team and struck out several batters, call-up Trevor Moore caught a rocket that looked like it was heading for Olympus, and Travis Dingle made an exceptional sliding catch to end the game, a catch that redeemed the fielder who had missed a few simple plays.

On offence the Monarchs caught fire. In the final three innings the Monarchs scored one, seven, and six runs respectively. The offence was lead by call-up Robin's, like Madonna, sixth inning home run and big hitting from Jamie Sabid, Trevor Moore, Sean Lam, Simon 'Chanpion' Chan and the Dingle brothers. And if you are keeping score at home, yes, everyone hit very well.

The Monarchs cruised to a 23-10 victory and a 1-0 record on the season. The team closed out a good Linaria Mustang team, a club that finished third overall in the spring, in time to avoid a severe storm and get to Boston Pizza in time to enjoy a cold beer and for Brad Dingle to hide his B.I.S.P.

...Because Monarchs Fly Together!

"Here it comes" said LF Travis Dingle, "yup, I felt that one" echoed R Brad Dingle. And with those few words the Monarchs were in for a fight; the opponent was the third seeded Friday Nights but also a bad storm had broken in the Clareview area that brought a dangerous combination of hard rain and intense lightning. This clash was a true upset match as both teams came into the final as upset winners in week 1 of the Spring playoffs. The Monarchs eliminated the top seeded Friar's Club while the Friday Nights sent the Linaria Mustangs to the golf course. In the season series, the Friday Nights had beaten the Monarchs with their ability to 'out token Asian' the M's while the team struggled with batting.

After handling the 'Liar's Club', the Monarchs looked forward to the rematch and a chance to redeem themselves en route to the franchises third championship and first back-to-back title. Historically, the Monarchs had won two dodgeball championships in 2007 and 2008.




Well after a truly courageous effort Tuesday night the Monarchs can add their own piece of the history to the Gallo/Monarch legacy.

The Monarchs, after winning the coin toss and answering Chan's "do we want last bats" question, took to the field after a masterful and inspiring speech from Simon Chan. And with that the Monarchs screamed onto the field ready to face the opening challenge from the Friday Nights. The Friday Nights threw a good opening jab at the Monarchs and in traditional fashion the Monarchs bent a little allowing the Friday Nights to score five runs on the Monarchs. The Monarchs have given a little in the early parts of most games this season but normally have had the answer when their turn came around.

The Monarchs never backed down from a little adversity and with the championship on the line the Monarchs weren't about to begin. Facing an opening inning 5-0 deficit, the Monarchs knew that they had to get on the bats. The offence had been on fire in the last few games as the Monarchs have posted big numbers as of late. And in the bottom of the first the Monarchs roared back, like true champions, scoring seven runs of their own and taking a 7-5 lead. The championship was in full swing and both teams seemed determined.

The game was a classic affair with both teams scoring runs back and forth. The Monarchs held onto the lead throughout the game but the Friday Nights came close on several occasions. They just didn't have the answer for the determined M's.

Both teams were closely watching the impending storm roll in, observing its impressive lightning and deafening thunder, while hoping that the storm would avoid the diamond and allow the game to play its course. However, it was not to be. In the top of the third the clouds began to open up and the rain poured down. The teams seemed unconcerned with the rain but the thunder and lightning was growing more severe. The game played on in the rain until the middle of the fifth. With the storm seeming to intensify the teams huddled around the pitchers mount willing to discuss calling the game. However, after the discussion had ended neither team was willing to call the game, therefore, signalling a complete game and sending the Monarchs to victory. The Friday Nights wanted to continue and the Monarchs obliged them, despite members of the team feeling a lot better about going home. And although the game continued many members of the 2008 Champion Monarchs agreed after the game that it probably wasn't the best decision.

The Friday Night capitalized on their second chance and in the top of the sixth hit a three run blast over the head of CF Sean Lam. "Dingle told me to play in" Lam said, "Jamie told me to move the outfield in" was Dingle's rebuttal. However, that was as close as the Friday Nights would get as the Monarchs shut them down in the top of the seventh sending the team to their T-Shirts!

The Monarchs escaped a tough Friday Nights team with a 16-12 victory and their coveted T-Shirt. The Monarchs took the road less travelled to secure their third championship coming back from the fourth place spot to win the league. The fourth seed was secured by the M's in the last game of the season with a win in the second game of their double header.

MVP of the Game - Brad Dingle - Dingle hit a three run home run to break open the game despite still suffering from a dislocated pinkie finger. In a later inning, Dingle caught two fly balls in the outfield that ultimately broke the Friday Nights spirit.

Note: Tuesday's championship game likely marked the last game for Gallo/Monarch family member Simon Chan. Chan was an original member of the franchise and a member of all three championship teams. The Gallo/Monarch family wish the best for Chan in his scholastic studies in Toronto. Chan was the first and last member of Team Gallo/Monarch to wear #65 as the uniform shall be retired following the 2008 summer season.

The parade and T-Shirt reception takes place July 3rd at the Canadian North Brew House. The party begins at 6 although other teams will be collecting shirts as well.

Without further ado...

Monarchs 'Freak' Out on Friar's Club

Despite a 2-2 record down the stretch and having to face the leagues top seeded team, the Monarchs are heading back to 'the dance'. Despite taking the more arduous road to get there, the Monarchs now have a chance to play for their franchise's third t-shirt and the first Monarch championship. Furthermore, with a victory next week the Gallo/Monarch franchise will be back to back champions in 2008. The last time the Monarchs got to the finals they were outdone by their opposing team, who will forever be remembered in the history books for fielding the 'biggest. douche bag. ever!'

The Monarchs secured a birth into the Championship with a decisive 22-17 victory over the 6-1 Friar's Club last night at Elizabeth Seton field. Many members of the Monarchs believed the game would ultimately get cancelled due to excessive bad weather around Edmonton last night, however, the storm passed and blue skies held for the duration of the game. "I didn't want to play in lightning," an adamant Alicia Kurach said, "that's just stupid, I mean I'm okay with rain". The Monarchs still showed up ten strong after calling up Laura Reed from the farm system. Missing from the Monarch line-up were regulars Fran Hughston, Russell Loga, Kevin Wong, and Amanda Sturies. As the teams arrived at the field the skies cleared and the stage was set for the ESSC 1 vs 4 playoff game.

Missing a few players themselves the Friar's Club elected to take first bats in order to field a full defensive team in the bottom of the inning as only eight players were accounted for prior to the game starting, however, as the Monarchs were running onto the field the missing players arrived but it was too late to flip a coin giving the Monarchs the advantage they were looking for.

The first inning was marred by a traditional slow start by the Monarchs, "I noticed I don't really feel that great until I get going a little, takes a few innings I guess" said rover Brad Dingle. The Friar's Club dropped six on the Monarchs in the first inning, but the team was optimistic that it was their night. "Way to hold them to six Monarchs! It's not seven" one Monarch said as the team left the field. The Monarchs would be okay though as the offence was lifted to new heights with the addition of the Miken Freak. "They didn't even have a chance now that we have THE bat!" said SS Jamie Sabid as the team took turns kissing the bat after the game.

The Monarch offence that had underachieved at certain times this season exploded in the playoffs with many batters now electing to use the new 27 oz. messiah. Patience at the plate was also a key contributor to the Monarch offence. In the bottom of the first inning the Monarchs rallied to the limit seven runs and a 7-6 lead. The Friar's Club was not going to give up though, not that they ever really had a chance.

The Friar Club was able to score some runs throughout the game but the Monarchs defence came into typical form. The Friar's Club hit some hole and the Monarch defence made its typical errors, but was there when they really needed it. "Bend but don't break, typical cliche." offered DJ Robinson. Their were several key defensive plays to the Monarchs but the two highlight reel moments came on spectacular efforts by Robinson and Brad Dingle. With runners on base and the Monarchs in need of one out to end the inning, the Friar's Club batter ripped a shot that appeared to be going over 2B DJ Robinson's glove, but the second baseman was not going to be denied. Despite having a 'difficult' evening with a couple shallow outfield fly's, Robinson jumped to snag the ball, surely robbing the Friar's Club of a run or two. The other defensive highlight was another line drive but this time headed for SS Jamie Sabid. As Sabid went to play the ball, he missed the catch but did manage to tip the ball into the air. Believing that this would be a hit, the Friar's Club baserunner headed for third, alas Brad Dingle was in perfect position to make the catch and sent the ball to second base for the double play. The Monarchs were able to hold the Friar's Club to a few runs here and there but was able to shut them down when needed.

The offence of the Monarchs was another story. Sparked by the new Miken Freak bat, the Monarchs hit 5 hr's while batting around the Friar's Club defence. The team was equally astute when it came to plate discipline, recording copious amount of walks throughout the game. Team walk-master Jamie Sabid, known for always waiting for the first strike before even thinking about hitting, lead the walk parade. "That pitcher was struggling," said Sabid "and since I was batting in front of Melanson a walk was a double for me." The Monarchs had little problem producing runs as everyone got into the act of running the bases, Chris Dew and Travis Dingle each homered twice and DJ Robinson got one; Simon Chan almost had a HR but the play was officially a triple with an error. "It was a fielding error not a throwing error," a concussed Chan was overheard telling the team, correcting Travis Dingle's assessment of the situation. On the play as Chan rounded second he was surprised by the third baseman standing in his path, "I was going to say something but I didn't," recalls Chan. The positioning caused Chan to slow down a step, a step that would be costly in the long run. As Chan approached home the relay throw came in from second but the catcher was unable to control the missile causing it to ricochet and hit Chan in the head. He would be okay but the incident cause a scare for a moment.

The argument could be made that the ball to the head straightened Chan up as he returned to the mount to strike out several Friar's Club batters. When asked to recall Chan's pitching CF Sean Lam could only find one word, "GODZIRRAH!" Clearly Stella had gotten her grove back.

The Monarchs played a exceptional game on Tuesday night as everyone had gotten into the action and had a chance to contribute. The team was patient at the plate, lead by a team high 3 walk performance by Laura Reed, ran the bases aggressively, and was able to come up with the big plays when they were most needed.

Next week the Monarchs will face off against the winner of the Linaria Mustangs vs the Friday Nights at Elizabeth Seton. Gametime is 7:00pm. It is only a matter of time...

"I hope the shirts are red," commented birthday girl Erin Melanson "that way I'll have something to wear for Dodgeball"

Epic Defence, Late Heroics! Character Win for the Mighty M's!

In a rare occurrence, the Monarchs headed into last nights game against the second place Linaria Mustangs in fourth place. However, the Monarchs had not found themselves in such a position due to their 2-1 record, the culprit of the Monarchs standings was a lost spirit point to the TRIP OUTS one week earlier. The team was shocked upon learning of the lost point, "I am going to write a strongly worded letter to the league, we even dog-sat for them!" an outraged Amanda Sturies commented. The TRIP OUTS did receive a spirit point from the Monarchs despite begin late for the game, playing one girl short for a majority of the game, altering their line-up in order to bat more guys, and having the Monarchs dog-sit during one inning.

The Monarchs were looking to put the lost spirit point behind them and begin with a fresh start. The lost spirit point and their one loss have accumulated to 3 points in the standings, with another loss the Monarchs could find themselves in danger. The Monarchs have to remain in the top 4 in order to reach the top playoff bracket and have a chance to play for the coveted 'T-Shirt'. "We should just tank it into fourth place so we can play the top team first, really send a message to the league when we win" Sean Lam said at post-game beers. And Tuesday night the Monarchs began the game as though the Lam had already told them this information. The Monarchs took first bats in the game and managed to bring one run across home plate. A modest start for the offence who has struggled to just 33 runs over three games. But the normally solid defence was no where to be found in the bottom half of the inning. "Practice inning" Fran Hughston exclaimed as she tried to rally the team from a terrible 7 run inning.

The defence was poor in the first inning with the team committing several crucial fielding errors. Amanda Sturies in an attempt to assist on an out at second base threw both the ball and he glove toward 2B Jamie Sabid. "Fundamentally poor, I wasn't happy for most of the game" P Simon Chan commented. But the Monarchs weren't about to let a bad first inning stop their run to the playoffs. The Monarchs rallied back with seven runs of their own in the top of the second. The Mustangs pitcher threw a plethora of pitches at the Monarch batters, "isn't it illegal to throw pitches so high" one Monarchs asked. The pitcher seemed to have a repertoire that limited Monarch batters to several infield hits; Yet their power allowed them to escape the infield. With seven runs of their own the Monarchs were back on top with a 8-7 lead.

However, the bottom of the second brought more of the same for the Monarchs. Again the team was hampered by several key mistakes that helped the Mustangs record another 4 runs. "Dropped fly's, call-offs, missed balls, we were beating ourselves" Brad Dingle recalls. However the Monarchs seemed to have more resolve than expected on a night when they could have easily rolled over and died. The Monarchs showed their league best defence and limited the Mustangs to only 2 more runs in the final five innings. "We just put one solid inning together with another, and another" Travis Dingle said. The Mustangs despite a hot start would only be able to record 13 runs in seven innings, a record allowed against the Monarchs this season.

It was gut-check time when the defence came through. Inspired by her 'cute' new cleats SS Amanda Sturies recorded a clutch unassisted double play after fielding a roller into the SS area tagging up on second base and sending a laser to first ahead of the runner. Brad Dingle saved the game in the bottom of the seventh with a diving catch to record the first out, Jamie Sabid turned another DP in a later inning, Chan found his grove on the mount and the Monarchs began to fire on all cylinders. The defence made the adjustments that they had to make to shut down the Mustang offence, an offence that had recorded 61 runs in their four previous games. One key decision was to shift the Rover into a shallow LF position, "We noticed that they weren't hitting with a lot of power, and many of their hits were dropping in so we shifted the rover" said LF Travis Dingle. The moved seemed to pay off as the Rover was in position to stop many balls from 'getting too deep' and stopped base runners on first.

The Monarchs bats also came alive. There was clutch hitting up and down the order anchored by an impressive outing by the lady Monarchs. Missing from the line-up was Alicia Kurach, in her absence Amanda Sturies, Erin Melanson, and Fran Hughston batted in a rotation through the four female batter spots. "I remember thinking "Oh, DJ has to bat with two outs, tough position to be in" then two batters later I was up" Sturies said speaking about the big seventh inning by Monarch batters.

Coming into the bottom of the seventh inning the Monarch found themselves tailing 13-10 and in need of three runs to tie the game forcing a bottom half of the inning; however, the Monarchs got more than three runs, recording six enroute to a 16-13 lead heading into the bottom half. "The offence came up big when it had to" 1B Erin 'Melly' Melanson boasts. The Monarchs batted masterfully through their line-up scoring six runs, one highlight was a pull by Brad Dingle just past the 1B for the Mustangs scoring a couple of Monarchs.

The Monarchs climbed to 3-1 with the victory and should find themselves in third fourth place this week, however, this is not true representation of the Monarchs as they have a game in hand over all of the higher ranking teams. The Monarchs have been lucky this season as their have been few injuries to speak of this season, it appears as though many of the players played for the ESSC Dodgeball Champion Team Gallo, and have avoided 'Monarch Thigh'. However, the first injury has creeped up on the Monarchs with Russell Loga being limited to DHing duties with what the organization is calling an 'upper body injury'.

The editor would like to apologise to everyone out in 'Monarch Land' for the delay in recapping last nights game. The delay was cause due to the writer having to postpone the recap as he welcomed a new member to the Monarch family. We at Monarch head office would like you all to know the new member is alert and properly working inside 'Dingle Apartment'. I would like to introduce to you all to Mr. Airconditioner-tron.

Isn't he wonderful, a little rotund I guess!

The Simon Chan Show Rolls Through The TRIPOUTS!

The mighty Monarchs arrived early to the ballpark Tuesday in anticipation for their game against the TRIPOUTS and also to work through some fundamentals after losing in extra innings the previous week. "They came up with a phantom run," Monarch pitcher Simon Chan states, "we were winning by one run at the end of the game until they conjured a tie!" However, other members of the Monarchs had different theories, "maybe if we had a captain that wasn't intimidated" said RF Sean Lam stated. Yes that's right, the Monarchs fell to 1-1 last week as Chan failed to assert his legendary 'I wrote my thesis on baseball' attitude against the Friar's Club. The lost dropped the Monarchs to third in the standings while the victorious Friar's Club vaulted to the top of the standings. Chan took a good ribbing before the game for his lack of backbone. However, the team was really looking to light a fire under the second year Monarch.

The pre-game tactic seemed work but not only on Chan but the whole team, although Chan wouldn't admit it. "I was soooo good! In one inning this girl was crowding the plate, so I threw inside at her. It was a strike right on the back corner of the mat. The next pitch she was standing away from the plate, obviously shaken from my legendary insider sinker, so I dropped one outside at the top corner. I'm so good!" Chan bragged to the reporters.

The real story to the game was not the Monarchs lack of offense but a five-star defence. The TRIPOUTS, while not looking like a insurmountable challenge, played very well. The outfielders tracked balls well and the infield swallowed balls up. The mighty M's were only able to manage 4 runs heading into the seventh. However on several occasions the defence bailed out a struggling offence. The infield was clutch, moving very well to keep balls in front of them while the outfield caught the fly's and kept rollers in front of them. Although the TRIPOUTS recorded more hits than the Monarchs, their runners were often stranded on base. The defence played very well only allowing 1 run through six innings. The TRIPOUTS also had to face the self-claimed 'Ace' of the Monarchs, Simon Chan, who recorded multiple strikeouts and every struck out the side in one inning, a feat seldom seen in the ESSC.

The game seemed to be in hand as the innings rolled into the seventh. The Monarch defence had been lights out all night and only allowed a single run to cross home plate, scored on a base hit in the first inning, however, the Monarchs had difficulty putting the boots to the TRIPOUTS and allowing the game to get tied up in the final inning. "The totally cheated on their line-up. They sent all their guys to the plate" several Monarchs were heard telling one another after the game. A theory that seems to have a little bit of weight behind it as the TRIPOUTS appeared to send three consecutive guys to the plate on two different occasions, but regardless the Monarchs failed to put the team to bed as the TRIPOUTS scored three in the top of the seventh to tie the game at fours. Heading into the bottom of the seventh the Monarchs only needed one run to win the game. The Monarchs knew that they needed to score a victory to keep a chance at the championship game. "It would be tough to get there as a two loss team" said Brad Dingle.

The Monarchs felt confident that they could score the needed run and felt even better after lead off batter Sean Lam reached first base on a line dive up the middle. Following Lam in the batting order was Simon Chan-Bonds. "I read the pitch well. I was sitting on that one" Chan boasts. To his credit, Chan sent a rocket that evaded the outfielder and landed just yards from the home run line, a hit that allowed Lam to score uncontested and sent the Monarchs to a 5-4 win and a 2-1 record.

As a tribute to the greatness of Simon Chan's epic game, I've included a little treat for all the Monarchs out there. So without further adieu, Simon Chan playing the accordion!

The Monarchs were finally able to take the field in the much anticipated opener to the season that is being dubbed "The Spring of Champions". Many members around the clubhouse feel that this team has exactly what it takes to be crowned champions come June. The team has seen some change compared to the 2007 edition of the club. With their two picks in the ESSC 2007 draft the Monarchs selected utility fielder Jamie Sabid and Fran Hughston, a base running expert. Team captain Simon Chan spoke about the two new additions to the club, "in Sabid we feel that we bring some swagger into the dugout. Sabid we expect will bring some style and maybe a couple of new bats to the team". The Monarchs selection of Fran Hughston was controversial since she was not a true draft pick. Last season Hughston played one game for the Monarchs in a try-out contract. However, the Monarchs had to draft Fran in order for her to follow the Monarchs over to the ESSC. The Monarchs split the 2007 season between the ESSC and the Edmonton Rec League. "We knew what we were getting in Fran when we selected her in the second round. Other teams were saying that we went off-the-board picking her but we've all seen how she thinks the game and her raw base running talent" Chan said. Joining newcomers Sabid and Hughston was the normal crew of Monarchs: Team Captain Simon Chan, Amanda Sturies, Travis Dingle, Erin Melanson, Sean Lam, Kevin Wong, Brad Dingle, DJ Robinson, and Russell Loga. Missing from the teams opener was Chris Dew (Concert that wasn't Mariah Carey), Alicia Kurach (Housecall outside of the Edmonton area), and Fran Hughston (Priority confusion). The Monarchs filled the missing lady spot by calling up Laura Reed from the Monarchs AAA farm team.

The Monarchs opponent Tuesday night was the Jayman MasterBUILT, the company's slo-pitch team. Prior to the game there was a general concern both on-field and off, as Travis Dingle, Erin Melanson, and Amanda Sturies were nowhere to be found just minutes before first pitch. However, inside the casually late vehicle Sturies had other concerns, "I don't care how late we were! I didn't want Monarch Thigh!" Sturies recalls. However the group of Monarchs arrived in time and Sturies was seen jogging down the foul lines with teammate DJ Robinson.

Both teams seemed content to play small ball through the first few innings of play. The teams would take turns scoring a run or two through the first three innings. At the end of three the score was 6-3 for the Jayman MasterBUILT. In the top of the fourth inning Sturies came off the bench saying 'This is the inning of the shortstop!' and ensured that she had a great inning. The Monarchs held the JMB to 0 runs the fourth and in the bottom of the inning fought back to take the lead scoring 4 in the bottom half of the fourth.

The Monarchs never looked back as their bats shook off the winters cobwebs. The Monarchs scored innings of 4, 1, and a Sixth inning mercy rule 7. The defensive play-of-the-game came on the final out of the night in the top of the Seventh. Amanda Sturies and Jamie Sabid switch position in the final inning. With two outs and the JMB in need of a serious 9 run rally, the batter blooped a hit into the shallow outfield. Sturies ran back and in a last effort reached out to grab the ball in the tip of her glove. A classic ice cream cone style catch the Loga described in great depth, "It was like the poo in my ass. You know half inside, half poking out". The Offensive play of the game happened in the top of the Fourth with Simon Chan standing at the plate. Chan hit a solid pitch that rocketed into the outfield and past the first fielder. The center fielder got to the ball quickly and sent it in, Chan wanting to get the first HR of the season rounded for home despite Amanda Sturies telling him to hold up at third, "He said 'fuck that' as he rounded the base", however if Chan hadn't stopped he was dead in the water. Before passing the Commitment Line, Chan threw on the breaks and tried to get back to third. The ball arrived before Chan so again he headed for home. In a defensive error the JMB catcher was nowhere to be found allowing Chan to easily score on the play. "I was going to head straight for home until I head Sean tell me 'Don't be a hero'. I mean that's what I always say."

The Fifth inning brought some controversy when a JMB batter rocketed a blast over the head of the unsuspecting LF Travis Dingle. Chan was heard on the play to say to the batter that this is a practice pitch. However, the batter heeded not this warning and crack a long ball to the outfield. Dingle ranged back but was unable to get the ball before it bounced off the wall and back to an awaiting Sean Lam. The runner was stranded on third and failed to score.

For their opening game the Monarchs looked very good. The outfielders, Brad Dingle, Sean Lam, Travis Dingle, Kevin Wong, and DJ Robinson, covered the field well. The right side of the outfield was much busier than the left but made several key outs. The infield, lead but Russell Loga, Amanda Sturies, Simon Chan, Erin Melanson and anchored by newcomers Jamie Sabid and Laura Reed, was exceptional as well. A couple of balls escaped up the middle to the Rover, however the infield kept most balls in front of them and threw out many runners. Russell Loga made a great play from third base accepting the relay throw from Sean Lam and sending it home to an awaiting Erin Melanson who recorded the out as she stood on home plate. "It was quite the masterful play by everyone involved. I only wish I had that type of arm strength! I am so jealous of Loga. And he's got the hair" was Simon Chan's only comment on the issue.

The Monarchs are expecting to be in around second place when the standings are released later this week and are also awaiting a updated version of the schedule in order to prepare for next weeks opponent.