The Richardson Pioneer Men’s Fastball League has some important games this week with the Playoff Picture very unclear. Four teams are battling for the top two spots and the first round bye’s in the playoffs. With a 10 game season the current standings are:

Foam Lake Merchants 6-2
Wynyard Blues 4-2-1
Rosebud Royals 6-3
Stoney Creek Braves 5-3
Fishing Lake Cubs 3-5
Wadena Wildcats 0-9-1

Tuesday Night will be moving day in the league with Playoffs looming. The Braves have a pair of games in Wadena against the Cubs at 5:00 and against the Royals at 7:00 and The Merchants host a double header against the Blues starting at 6:30. After Tuesday the only remaining games will be the Braves vs Cubs and Blues vs Cubs. League Playoffs are set for Saturday and Sunday with a true double knockout format in Wynyard, SK. 1st place plays winner of 4vs5, and 2nd plays winner of 3vs6.

Recent results

Rosebud Royals 4
Wadena Wildcats 1
WP: James Holowaty
HR: Dylon Murias (Royals)
Pictures: Caleb Hamilton

The two Wadena based teams did battle on a nice night in Wadena Monday June 19th in the Richardson Pioneer Men`s Fastball League. The younger Wadena Wildcats jumped out to 1-0 lead in the 1st stranding 2 runners. In the second the Rosebud Royals Scott Comfort had a lead off double and was quickly cashed in with a single to left-center by James Holowaty, who pitched the complete game for the Royals. The Royals followed that up with a two-run homerun in the 3rd by Dylon Murias and with Dane Ward scoring off a Shane Scheschuck hit in the 5th. The Wildcats Nathan Pomedli pitched the complete game and kept the Royals batters fairly quiet with help from the game star Caleb Hamilton at 3rd. Hamilton made multiple solid plays on the hot corner on some hard hit balls to the delight of a large crowd.

Submitted by the Foam Lake Merchants:
Foam Lake Merchants 3
Stoney Creek Braves 0
WP: James Anderson

The Foam Lake Merchants split the double header with the Stoney Creek Braves June 16th in Foam Lake. It was a great night for ball! Thanks to all of the fans who came out to watch the Merchants and support the Foam Lake Minor Ball concession.
Game 1:
James Anderson pitched 7 shutout innings and was backed by the solid Merchants defense in a 3-0 win. Greg Beaudoin and Kyle Jones hooked up for a couple of nice double plays which kept the Braves off the scoreboard. Brennan Hack and Zach Zadorazniak went 2-2 to lead the Merchants at the plate.

Game 2:
Foam Lake Merchants 5
Stoney Creek Braves 6

The Merchants got out to an early lead but the Braves bats got hot in the 3rd and 4th innings to carry the Braves to a 6-5 win. Ryan Junop pitched 4 solid innings with James Anderson coming in for 2 innings to close the game. Carson and Logan Kristjanson led the Merchants with strong games in the field and at the plate.

Cubs and Royals split a double header in Fishing Lake June 8th. The Rosebud Royals started Steve Moulding in the first game and held a lead into the 7th when the Cubs took the lead with a big 6 run inning. The Royals had a more steady attack on Cubs Pitcher Corbet Sabit scoring a few runs each inning. The Cubs held on for a one run win after Jordan Thiessen brought the Royals within one with a 2 run double off the top of the wall. The Royals were unable to cash Jordan in for the tie. Dylon Murias had a home run in the game and Corbet Sabit was credited with the 11-10 win.

In game two the Royals sent James Holowaty to the mound against the Cubs Hal Machiskinic. The game was 5-1 through 4 innings but the Royals scored a bunch in the 5th inning and took the win 12-5. Chad Paquachan had a home run in the game.

_Pictured is Brynn Achtymichuk ripping a 2 run double. Brynn had a great day at the plate reaching all but two times in two games. _

Tayler Jordan lead the Blues to a victory against the Wildcats in the Richardson Pioneer Men’s Fastball League on June 6th. Taylor went 5 for 5, hit THREE homeruns, and was the winning pitcher in a 21-9 victory. Mike Jordan pitched the second half of the game for the Wynyard Blues while Luke Ochitwa, Kolten Paquachan and Nathen Pomedli shared the mound for the Wadena Wildcats. Nathen Pomedli also had a home run in the game. The next game for the Blues is Wednesday June 14th in Fishing Lake while the Wildcats face the Rosebud Royals in Wadena.

WYNYARD BLUES 21
WADENA WILDCATS 9
WP: Tayler Jordan
Blues HR: Tayler Jordan 3
Wildcats HR: Nathen Pomedli

Wadena Ball Days wrapped up with a pair of games in the Richardson Pioneer Men’s Fastball League Saturday night. The first game say the Fishing Lake Cubs come to town and pick up a win against the young Wadena Wildcat team. The score was 4-2 after 3 but the cubs bats hit their stride for a 14-3 final score. The Cubs send Corbet Sabit and Hal Machiskinic to the mound and the Wildcats had Coltin Paquachan, Lucas Ochitwa, and Nate Pomedli share the duties. Coltin Paquachan had a homerun in addition to his pitching duties while Lucas went 2 for 2 adding a walk.

FISHING LAKE CUBS 14
WADENA WILDCATS 3
WP: Corbit Sabit
HR: Coltin Paquachan

The final game of the day saw a good battle between the Foam Lake Merchants and the Rosebud Royals. The Merchants jumped to a 4-2 lead through two but the Royals answered back in the 4th with a 5-run inning. The Merchants rallied in the top of the 7th with 4 runs of their own but the Royals held them off for a 11-8 victory. The Royals James Holowaty pitched 6 1/3 innings with Neil Finch coming in to close out the 7th. For the Merchants Kevin Garinger went 4 for 4 with a Homerun and Brodie Lamb went 3 for 3. The pitchers for the Merchants were Kevin Garinger (4 innings) and James Anderson (2 innings). The Royals Mason Nedjelski and James Holowaty both reached base every at bat.

ROSEBUD ROYALS 11
FOAM LAKE MERCHANTS 8
WP: James Holowaty
HR: Kevin Garinger

Pictured: Cubs player/coach Rocky Nanaquawetung just about to swing and hit a double in the 6th Inning. Inset picture is Rocky reaching second.

June 1st in the Richardson Pioneer Men’s Fastball League saw the Foam Lake Merchants defeat the Fishing Lake Cubs 13-9. The Cubs Barry Belanger and Hal Machinslic both had 2-run homeruns and the Merchants Garth Anderson hit a solo homerun, while Ryan Junop had a 3-run homerun. The Merchants jumped to a 3 to 0 lead bottom of 1. The Cubs responded with 4 runs and it was a close game until the 6th Merchants jumped to a 4-run lead and kept it. Corbet Sabit started for the Cubs and Hal Machisknic threw the the last 4 innings. James Anderson pitched the whole game for the Merchants in a winning effort. Submitted by Rocky Nanaquawetung.

Foam Lake MERCHANTS 13
Fishing Lake CUBS 9
WP James Anders
CUBS HR: Barry Belanger and Hal Machinslic
MERCHANTS HR: Ryan Junop and Garth Anderson

To close out May in the Richardson Pioneer Fastball League, the Wadena Wildcats and Wynyard Blues lit up the scoreboard in a 20 to 20 tie game. The Wadena Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and while the Blues had a steady attack scoring throughout the game including 5 in the 6th to tie the game at 20. The Blues Adam Jordan had the only homerun in the game. The Wildcats Brody Rumbold, Caleb Hamilton, Nathin Pomedli, Koltin Paquachan all reached base for all of their at bats, while the Blues Mason Brewster and Jackson Karakochuk also reached on each attempt. Blues send Jackson Karakochuk and Mike Jordan to the mound while the Wildcats split the pitching duties again between Nathin Pomedli, Lucas Ochitwa, and Koltin Paquachan.

Wadena WILDCATS 20
Wynyard BLUES 20
BLUES HR: Adam Jordan

The Richardson Pioneer Men’s Fastball League continues June 3rd at the Wadena Ball Day. The two Wadena based teams each play host for one game each after some Minor Baseball and Softball games including the North Central Sask PeeWee Softball League featuring Prince Albert, Saskatoon AA, Irma Alberta, and the local Wadena Wildcat boys. In the Richardson Pioneer Mens league the Wildcats play the Fishing Lake Cubs and the Rosebud Royals host the Foam Lake Flyers at 5:00 and 7:00. Minor League games run from 10:00 AM with the local PeeWee team finishing their day off at 6:00 against the Saskatoon AA team.