Spurs continue regular season play

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

It’s been a busy few weeks for the Vauxhall Spurs as they continued to play plenty of games. On May 28, the Spurs were on the road for a rematch against the Lethbridge Lakers. After sweeping their home doubleheader against the Lakers, the Spurs were hopeful to continue to build on that.

Game one saw an early 2-0 lead for Vauxhall, but Lethbridge was able to battle back and take it 4-2 after a key three-run third inning. The Spurs outhit the Lakers 6-5 as Langdyn Cummins led the way with three while Roman Pavka, Cayden Fehr, and Sidney Pedersen had one each. Micah Fontaine was the starting pitcher for the Spurs and he went five innings allowing four runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out three batters. Cummins then pitched a clean final inning out of the bullpen.

Looking for a quick rebound in the second game of the day, the Spurs once again raced out to an early lead only to see it evaporate in the sixth inning as Lethbridge won 7-3. Vauxhall once again outhit the Lakers — this time 13-8. Tanner Bullock, Landon Howg, and Pavka each had three hits while Parker McLaughlin, Eric Reiling, Ryley Jensen, and Berkley Emelson all had one hit in the loss. Randon Lauwen pitched five innings as the starter, allowing two earned runs on six hits and striking out eight. Fehr was the first man out of the bullpen and had no outs while allowing four earned runs on two walks. Bullock collected the final out of the day for the Spurs and gave up an earned run on two hits while collecting one punch out. 

With May over, the Spurs were back in action this past weekend as they started June off with a doubleheader against the Lethbridge Miners. The beginning of the month was unkind to Vauxhall as they saw the Miners score nine runs in the sixth inning en route to a 14-1 win. Vauxhall had five hits in the game with Pavka providing two of them. Cummins, Bullock, and Jensen had the others. 

Daxton Schrader got the ball to start for Vauxhall and gave the Spurs five innings with seven runs (three earned) on four hits and five walks. Schrader also collected a pair of strikeouts on the day. Fehr was the first reliever of the day for Vauxhall and collected one out while allowing five earned runs on one hit and four walks. Jacob Falkenberg got the final two outs and had two runs (one earned) on a hit and two walks. 

After a disappointing start to the day, Vauxhall looked to end the weekend on a winning note. The Spurs plated three runs to begin the game but it was a back-and-forth battle from start to end. Tried 7-7 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Spurs were able to walk off the Miners thanks to a wild pitch. Vauxhall notched eight hits in the game as Cummins, McLaughlin, Reiling, Howg, Pavka, Lauwen, Jensen, and Mark Vulcano all had a hit in the win. Bullock got the start on the mound and gave up seven runs (one earned) on six hits and five free passes. He also had six strikeouts to end the day. Fontaine gave the team some long relief as the pitcher threw three clean innings allowing a single walk and striking out one batter.

This week sees the Spurs get into another handful of games. On Wednesday, they play a single game on the road against the Medicine Hat Moose Monarchs at 5:30 p.m. Saturday sees another doubleheader against the Miners in Lethbridge. First pitch goes at 1 p.m. with the second game to follow shortly after. They wrap up the weekend at home on Sunday evening with a pair of games against the Fort Macleod Royals. First pitch goes at 5:30 p.m.