The Sylvan Lake Gulls season is now well under way, and we are beginning to see what this year’s team will be looking like. We’ve had a few former Gulls return to Sylvan, like former WCBL MVP Cooper Ciesielski, Brooks Bachman, Elijah Hammill, and Brock Tijerina, as well as newcomer Charlie Collins. This should add some veteran experience to the roster.
The past couple of weeks have seen the Gulls unable to really get on a winning roll. This two-week stretch started out with a tough loss to the Energy City Cactus Rats by a score of 10-8, in a game that saw them fall behind early, come back and take the lead, and then see the Rats rally late to win.
The following night the same two teams played another back-and-forth game, but this time, after giving up two runs in the top of the ninth inning, they were able to respond with three runs of their own, highlighted by a two-run double from JohnBoy Rittenhouse, to walk it off for the Gulls.
The final game of that three-game series against the Cactus Rats saw the Gulls come out fast and take an 8-0 lead after two innings. However, Energy City responded with six runs of their own in the third inning, but the Gulls settled down, rallied for three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, and added three more in the fifth. The two teams traded runs over the final four innings, and the Gulls came out on top, 15-7.
The next day the Gulls travelled to Lethbridge to begin a series against a very tough Bulls team. The first game saw the Gulls fall behind 5-0 early. They mounted a bit of a comeback, but fell short and saw the final score wind up 5-2.
Game #2 of that series was probably the most explosive game for the Gulls this season, so far. The bats really came alive on this day and saw the Gulls bang out 16 hits, including 4 doubles and 3 home runs. Six different Gulls players had more than one hit in the game. The pitching staff had a great day as well, as three pitchers held the Bulls to only 4 hits while striking out 16 batters.
The next day these same two teams played again, but this time in Sylvan. In this game Lethbridge scored once in the first inning, but that’s all they could do. Sylvan scored once in the first and added 4 more runs in the second before adding a final run in the sixth to win 6-1 against a Bulls team that has been at, or near, the top of the standings all year so far.
It was looking like the Gulls may be ready to go on a real winning streak, as their next series was against a Brooks Bombers team who, at that point, were winless. The Gulls were in Brooks for two games before returning home for another pair against the Bombers.
The first game in Brooks saw the Gulls score a run in the first, but the Bombers shocked them by replying with 8 in their half of the inning. Sylvan tried to respond a bit in the fourth inning, scoring 4 times, but Brooks responded with 1 of their own and added 3 more in the seventh. The Gulls did add 1 more run in the eighth, but far too little to overcome their disastrous first inning. Final score: Brooks 12, Sylvan 6.
The Gulls looked to right the ship the next night, but another rough first inning saw them down 4-1. The Gulls did get 1 run back in the third, but that was offset by 1 Bombers run in the fourth, 2 in the seventh, and another in the eighth. Final score: Bombers 8, Gulls 2.
The same two teams then switched venues and returned to Sylvan Lake. The first game back home saw the Gulls pull out a very tight, and very exciting, 5-3 win, and they followed that game up with a 4-0 shutout victory to celebrate Sully’s 6th birthday.
So, this two-week stretch sees the Gulls sitting in third place in the Western Division of the WCBL. They sit 3.5 games behind the Okotoks Dawgs, and 3 behind the Lethbridge Bulls. They have a bit of ground to make up, but nothing a nice little winning streak couldn’t fix.
In individual player stats, Maddox Shaver is sitting tied for third in batting average and tied for first in home runs. In pitching, Ryan Kucy is among the league leaders in ERA, and Brayden Stewart is in the Top 10 in strikeouts.
It’s going to be a busy week for the Gulls, as they have two games scheduled against Fort McMurray, two more against Brooks, and two against Lethbridge. They could make a big move in the standings with a good week. It’ll be interesting to see.
Go, Gulls, Go!!!
