Leduc traveled to Camrose tonight to try and right the ship after the disappointing showing at home on Tuesday. It started out well as they built up an early five run lead on veteran hurler Josh Banack, but Banack and his defense dug in and put up some zeros to give the offense a chance to comeback.
That chance came in the sixth as the Roadrunners strung a rally together against hurler Andrew Toner, working his first game on the mound in over a decade. After a clean first inning of relief for starter Jon Anstey, Toner got roughed up as the first five runners reached on a combination of hits and walks. Steven Pahl came in to try and stop the bleeding, but all the innings his arm has seen over the years makes tough to come in cold. The first three batters he faced reached on a walk, hit, and an error, before he settled down got three outs. The damage was done though as the Roadrunners took the lead to the bottom of the seventh.
With the Roadrunners All Star closer Alex Roth on the shelf with an injury the home squad had to stick with the veteran Josh Banack. A one out error due to the incredibly fast infield tonight that played like the old 1970s astro turf and gave both teams fits, opened the door for Leduc. Steven Pahl then stepped up and helped his own cause with a deep opposite field double to cash the tyeing run, then catcher Shane Gerein ripped his third hit of the night to cash in Pahl and give his team the lead.
In the bottom of the seventh Eldon Banack got a one out single to get the tyeing run on, but the game ended on the next batter with a strike'em out throw'em out.
With the win the Milleteers move to 3-1 and are tied for first going into the third week of the season. Next week will be a busy one as they first host the struggling Bardo Athletics before heading down the highway to take on the surprising Armena Royals in a battle that could be for first place. Then on the weekend they head back to Camrose to participate in the annual Camrose Axemen Tournament.