Jets take to the field for three games over weekend

Advance Photo by Trevor Busch. BATTER UP: Vauxhall Academy of Baseball Jets batter Kaleb Bozek contemplates a swing during doubleheader action versus Prairie Baseball Academy at Lloyd Nolan Yard in Lethbridge on March 28. The Jets will take on PBA again this weekend at Jets Stadium in Vauxhall.

By Cole Parkinson
Vauxhall Advance

In a three-game weekend, the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball Jets were looking to take a few wins against the Webber Wildcats. Saturday featured a single game as the Jets were on the road.

Despite going up 2-0 in the first inning, the rest of the game was all Wildcats as they scored 13 unanswered runs for a 13-2 win. The Jets would have six hits, with Jaxon George leading the way with two. Mark Vulcano had a double, and Matt Getz, Kaleb Bozek, and Hudson Nikkel all had a single. Graham Thiessen started for VAB and went 2.2 innings with four strikeouts. Five earned runs would come into score on four hits and a pair of walks. Charlie McMillan was called out of the bullpen first, and the reliever struck out a pair of 1.1. innings. Five runs scored (one earned) on three hits and four walks. Ben Connolly finished the game off with two innings where three earned runs scored on two walks and three hits. The reliever also struck out one batter in his two innings.

“It was a tough weekend. We ended up getting boat raced pretty good on Saturday. We lost 13-2 — it was a closer game than that until the back half of the game. But yeah, I just didn’t play well enough in all aspects,” stated Les McTavish, head coach of the Jets.

Sunday saw the Jets regroup for a doubleheader against the Wildcats, and the first game was tight. The Jets again would open the scoring, this time in the fourth, before the home team stormed back with three in the bottom of the sixth. The Jets were unable to respond, and they fell 3-1. Vauxhall had a lone single from Getz in the loss. Noah Simpson was solid in his five innings of work as the starter punched out 10 batters. Only three reached base as Simpson allowed only two hits and one free pass. Bozek was the lone reliever in the game for Vauxhall, and he allowed three earned runs on three hits and a pair of walks.

“We came out on Sunday and played pretty well. We were up 1-0 going into the sixth inning, and gave up three quick runs and boom, it was over 3-1. We did play better, much better actually,” added McTavish.

The day wrapped up with a high-scoring game as both sides plated plenty of runs in the finale. Despite out-hitting Webber 8-3 and taking an 8-1 lead, Vauxhall fell 11-8. Easton Kitura hit a solo home run, Nikkel and Getz each had a triple, Bozek had two doubles, Thiessen and Vanderwal each had a double, and Tanner Morris had a single. Carter Bevans took the ball to start for the Jets and went four innings with four K’s. Two earned runs came home to score on one hit and three walks. Cedric Leblanc got the call for the fifth inning and got two outs. Four unearned runs would score on four walks. Jacob Flach finished the game with two innings, as five earned runs scored on two hits and four walks. The reliever also notched four punch-outs in his two innings of work.

“We took an 8-1 lead and ended up losing in the bottom of the seventh. So yeah, it was a tough weekend. We just couldn’t stop people coming out of the bullpen, and we are not by any means using excuses, but we are short-handed here with our players gone with the national program. And we had a couple of injuries, so there were some challenges to it. It was one of those weekends where it just seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong. And in big moments, we ended up losing with an 8-1 lead; we only gave up three hits. We walked a bunch of guys, and then they would have a timely hit. We made three errors and walked a bunch, so what do you do? At the end of the day, you’ve got to get back to work and get that winning feeling again, and that killer attitude,” explained McTavish.

The next challenge for VAB is some less-than-ideal weather approaching this weekend. With a chance that no games happen, the Jets are preparing for the worst.

“It’s a nice day today (April 21), and then it looks like the weekend will be cancelled due to the weather. So that’s not ideal by any means. Likely the next time we’re in game action will be next Wednesday in Kamloops,” said McTavish.

The focus moving forward is getting back to strong basics on all sides of the ball. Bad weather is not ideal for VAB at this point, as they don’t have much room indoors and with potentially no games, they may be in for a long week.

“It’s gonna be a challenge because the community hall is booked. We’re gonna have to fight through some miserably cold days to try to get some work done on the field and use the high school gym where we can. At the end of the day, it’s more of a mental side than it is the physical side. You’ve got to reset mentally and as a group,” explained McTavish.

Another hurdle the team needs to overcome is getting back to throwing strikes when relievers come out of the bullpen. Too many walks have led to bad results for VAB, so that will be a focus moving forward.

“We did play good baseball for the most part on Sunday, and then we just didn’t throw it well coming out of the bullpen in both games. When you don’t do that, it’s tough to win. It’s no different than watching on TV. The bullpen is an important piece, each week for the Blue Jays or for the Yankees or Dodgers, whoever it is — your bullpen is important. Especially coming out of the bullpen and throwing strikes,” added McTavish.

Scheduled for this weekend is the Prairie Baseball Academy tournament. But with snow in the forecast, there’s a chance no games get played at all. After this weekend, the team heads to British Columbia for the Best of the West Tournament starting on April 29.