The Indians rode hot pitching and timely hitting to a home win over the Carstairs Cubs last week.
The Indians sent Kyle Burkitt to the hill for their June 15 matchup. Burkitt, who last pitched in the Indians’ 10-9 May 25 win over the Eckville Angels, was solid – scattering five hits over seven innings of work while striking out seven and walking one.
After Burkitt sent down the Cubs one-two-three in the first, leadoff batter Riley Elliott drew a walk to start the Indians half of the inning. Tristan Cunningham advanced Elliot to second with a sacrifice bunt, with Elliott moving to third on a passed ball to Indians first baseman Jay Kirkham. After Kirkham struck out, Darcy Nielsen’s bloop single to left plated Elliott with the game’s first run.
In the second, the Cubs could only manage a two-out walk before Burkitt rung up Jared Holmans to end the inning. Burkitt’s dominance continued in the third, with the Indians pitcher striking out the side to preserve a no-hit bid.
The Cubs broke up Burkitt’s no hitter in the fourth on a one-out single by Mike Krieger. Dan Sowerby followed that with a hard hit ball into the gap in left-centre, bringing home Krieger with the RBI double. After John Regehr reached first on an error, Burkitt bore down, striking out Ian Pears and inducing Holmans to ground out to third.
After Burkitt kept the Cubs off the scoresheet in the top of the fifth, the Indians took the lead in the bottom half of the frame. Blaine Hoppins got things started with a long single to right field, and then stole second on the first pitch to Brenden Nicolay. Nicolay drew a walk on a pitch in the dirt, which allowed Hoppins to advance to third. Desmond Bouteiller’s suicide squeeze scored Hoppins with the go-ahead run, with Nicolay ending up on third. Bouteiller was thrown out trying to advance to second base on the play. After Burkitt grounded out to third, Elliott’s hard hit grounder to third scored Nicolay with an insurance run.
The Cubs threatened again in the top of the sixth. Sowerby reached first with a one out, broken bat single to right and moved to third on a double by Regehr. Burkitt responded, striking out Pears before retiring Holmans following an eight-pitch at bat. After hitting the leadoff batter in the seventh, Burkitt retired the next three batters to pick up the win.
“I was just pitching strikes because we had good defence today,” Burkitt said following the game. “If they hit the ball I knew all the guys were there.”
Cubs’ pitcher Brad Regehr was equally impressive, allowing three hits and three runs over six innings while striking out four. After the Indians scored the game’s first run, Regehr set down the next 10 Innisfail batters he faced.
On June 17, the Indians came out on the losing end of a 5-2 game against the Red Dogs in Rocky. The road trip continues this week, with the rematch against the Cubs in Carstairs last night and a game in Eckville against the Angels on Friday. The Indians’ next home game is on June 29 against the Red Deer Razorbacks.
