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"
