Spurs play U.S. teams as season continues

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

It was another busy week for the Vauxhall Spurs last week as they took on three U.S. teams. July 9 saw the Spurs welcome in the Great Falls Chargers for a doubleheader. After a big tournament win, the Spurs were looking to parlay that into more regular-season success.

Thanks to a massive nine-run start for the Spurs, they were able to take a 17-5 win over the Chargers in game one. The Spurs outhit Great Falls 14-4 and Langdyn Cummins and Sidney Pedersen led the way with three hits each. Landon Howg and Roman Pavka had two apiece while Eric Reiling, Mark Vulcano, Jacob Falkenberg, and Micah Fontaine all had a base hit in the win. Berkley Emelson got the start for Vauxhall and went three innings where he allowed five earned runs on seven walks and four hits. The starter also collected a pair of strikeouts. Fontaine finished things off with two innings where he punched out three hitters and walked one. 

After tons of runs in the first of the doubleheader, the two teams continued to plate plenty of baserunners in game two. Vauxhall once again outhit Great Falls en route to a close 10-9 victory. Ryley Jensen, Randon Lauwen, and Pedersen had three hits each in the game while Cummins and Tanner Bullock had two each. Pavka had a double and three walks on the day to round out the offence. Cayden Fehr got the ball to start and gave the Spurs two innings where he struck out two while also allowing six earned runs on four hits and six walks. Falkenberg came out of the bullpen first and pitched one inning with two walks and a punch-out. Lauwen closed out the game with four solid innings with six strikeouts. The pitcher allowed four hits and three unearned runs. 

Following the doubleheader with Great Falls, this past weekend saw the Spurs back on the road as they took on Lewiston on Saturday and then Havre on Sunday.

The first game of the doubleheader against Lewiston was all Vauxhall as they collected a big lead and cruised to a 12-2 win. The Spurs outhit Lewiston 11-3 in the game as Cummins, Pavka, and Jensen all had two hits in the win. Other offence came from Howg, Vulcano, Lauwen, Pedersen, and Parker McLaughlin. 

Tanner Bullock started the game and gave Vauxhall a quality start with six strikeouts over four innings. Two runs scored (one earned) on two hits and four walks. Pedersen closed out the final inning where a single hit was allowed. 

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Spurs continued to hit the ball all over as they outhit the Redbirds 14-9. In the end, it was Vauxhall who claimed another win — this time 14-7. Daxton Schrader took the ball to start and gave the Spurs 6.1 innings with two strikeouts. The starter allowed seven runs (two earned) on nine hits and two walks. Jensen collected the last two outs on the mound. Offence for Vauxhall came from Vulcano and Jensen who had three hits, and Cummins, Bullock, and McLaughlin who had a pair of hits each. Howg and Pavka both had a hit in the win. 

After a successful stop in Lewistown, the Spurs were off to Havre on Sunday to wrap up the week with a doubleheader against the Northstars. The train kept rolling for Vauxhall in game one as they cruised to a 15-1 victory. Eleven more hits came for the Jets as Cummins, Howg, and Pavka had two apiece and Reiling, Vulcano, Bullock, Emelson, and McLaughlin all had one. Fontaine pitched all five innings, giving the Spurs a great start, and struck out five. He allowed a single earned run on one walk and two hits. 

Looking to end the week with a perfect run, the Spurs and Northstars took to the diamond to wrap up the weekend. In a complete reversal from the first game, the Northstars were able to take a big 11-1 win. Vauxhall had three hits in the game from Cummins, Howg, and Reiling. Cummins started the game on the mound and went 4.2 innings with eight runs allowed (seven earned) on six hits and five walks. The pitcher had one strikeout in his appearance. Falkenberg pitched an inning out of the bullpen with one strikeout and four earned runs on a hit and two walks. Fehr was the final pitcher for the Spurs and allowed a hit and a walk.