Spurs wrap up regular season

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

The summer continues to fly by, and the Vauxhall Spurs saw their regular season wrap up last week. With Districts on the horizon, the Spurs had two final doubleheaders to fine-tune their game. On July 16, the team was on the road to take on the Fort Macleod Royals. 

In the first game of the doubleheader, the Spurs and Royals put plenty of balls in playmakers, but it was Vauxhall who was able to carve out a lead in the mid-innings before blowing it open in the final two. When the final out was collected, Vauxhall had an 11-4 victory. The team had nine hits in the game as Roman Howg led the way with two home runs and five RBI, while Langdyn Cummins and Landon Howg had two hits apiece. Ryley Jensen, Sidney Pedersen, and Mark Vulcano all chipped in with a base hit in the win. Tanner Bullock took the ball to start and gave the Spurs 6.2 innings with seven strikeouts. He allowed four earned runs on one hit and four walks and collected the win. Jensen pitched the final out of the game. 

After a great start to the evening, the Spurs and Royals were back on the diamond to complete the doubleheader. Vauxhall continued to hit the ball all over the ballpark as they outhit Fort Macleod 14-9 en route to a 10-6 win. Cummins drove the offence with a 3-4 game and four RBI. Howg, Bullock, and Berkley Emelson each had a pair of hits while Vulcano, Pavka, Cayden Fehr, Micah Fontaine, and Parker McLaughlin all had one hit. Randon Lauwen was the starter for the Spurs and gave the team six solid innings with nine strikeouts. 

Over his six innings, Lauwen allowed two earned runs on six hits, and he didn’t walk a batter. Jacob Falkenberg pitched one inning with four runs (three earned) on three hits and a walk while striking out one. 

After the pair of wins over the Royals, the Spurs were back home on Sunday to take on the Tri-County Cardinals. The first game of the day was all Spurs as they walked away with a 12-1 win. Daxton Schrader pitched a complete five-inning game, allowing a single unearned run on six hits. Offensively, Eric Reiling had a big 2-3 game with a home run and three RBI. Howg, Pavka, Vulcano, Emelson, and McLaughlin all had one hit. 

In game two, Reiling continued to mash the ball as he had a 3-4 game with two home runs, and the Spurs rounded out the regular season with an 8-7 victory. Howg hit a double and a single while Pavka, Lauwen, Bullock, and Pedersen all had one hit in the game. Emelson took the ball to start and went two innings with five runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks. Fontaine came out of the bullpen first and pitched four stellar innings with six strikeouts and one walk issued. Cummins closed it out with an inning of work with a strikeout and two unearned runs on two hits. 

The Spurs also recognized their graduating players over the weekend, as Schrader, Howg, Emelson, and Reiling were all celebrated. Next up for the Spurs is the Class A North District Tournament this weekend in Lewiston, with games running from July 24-27. The Class A State Tournament will be hosted by the Tri-County Cardinals and runs from July 30-Aug. 3.