The Royals (13-9) led the five-team New Brunswick Senior Baseball League earlier in the season, but were recently dethroned by the defending champ Charlottetown Gaudet’s Auto Body Islanders (14-8) after losing two of three consecutive games to Charlottetown at Victoria Park and splitting their last 10 contests.
Royals head coach Derek Wilson said he expects his club to stay in the conversation for the regular-season pennant as the 2024 campaign enters its final month, while also acknowledging the parity in the airtight senior circuit.
“The league is really close this year,” he said. “Because of that, if you lose a game, you could easily go from first to second. If you lose a couple games in a week, you could end up in the middle of the pack.
“That could happen to us if we don’t quickly win a few games, but we don’t expect to be staring down the fourth-place game (against the fifth-ranked squad to decide the fourth playoff seed). We’ll look to win some games and solidify a spot in the top three.”
The Royals went 3-2 out the gate before heating up in June with a 5-3 stretch and winning four of eight games in July. To date, Fredericton has been led this season at the dish by Adam Estey, whose .375 batting average is good for seventh in the league. Craig Oliver’s .355 hitting clip is ninth, followed by Josh McDonald at .349.
Also in the top 20 are designated hitter Chris Sorensen with his .313 pace and import Nathan Van Putten with his .308 average, good for 18th and 19th in the batting ranks, respectively.
On the mound, key contributors for the Royals have included, but aren’t limited to, Colby Lyle with his 2.12 earned-run average, good for No. 3 in the league, along with Josh Dennis and his 3.11 ERA and Van Putten with his 4.62 ERA.
The Royals will host the Chatham Miramichi Honda Ironmen (9-9) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., then visit the Saint John AJ’s Alpines (4-16) Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at David Ring Memorial Field. They’ll entertain the Moncton Mets (11-9) Friday at 7:30 p.m.
In total, three of the Royals’ remaining regular-season matchups are against the Alpines, with two against the Ironmen and one versus the Mets. Fredericton went 1-4 in five games against Charlottetown.
“We’re pretty much neck and neck with the other teams, but if we win a couple games, we can give ourselves a bit of breathing room,” said Wilson. “We’ve got to come ready to play.”
The Ironmen inducted former star and longtime club Jody MacDonald into their honour roll in a pre-game ceremony Sunday before hosting the Royals.
MacDonald spent 14 seasons with Chatham, from 1989 to 2002. He recorded a .380 batting average in 1997. He also stole 38 bases in his career, most of which came on delayed steals – a skill he developed between 1994 and 1999.
MacDonald hit at a .300-plus pace from 1995 to 1999. He’s remembered for a play at the plate during the semifinals of the 1995 national tournament, hosted and won by Chatham, in which he collided with an Ontario catcher and knocked the ball loose, sparking a big rally for the Ironmen.
Later that day, MacDonald caught the final out on a right-field fly ball as Chatham captured its first Canadian title.
In 2019, when the Ironmen also hosted and won nationals, MacDonald chaired the tournament’s organizing committee. Since his playing career ended, he’s served as Ironmen president and been a key decision-maker in team matters.
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