The Redlegs and Royals took the field for a double header on Sunday at Howell Field. Since the Redlegs formed in 2010, these two clubs have a split 2-2 record against each other with the Redlegs getting the most recent win last summer. Eric Williams recorded the win that day in an 8 inning 15 strikeout performance that earned him MVABL Pitcher of the Week honors. Williams took the ball again on Sunday hoping for a repeat performance.
The Redlegs took an early lead in the top of the 1st when Jared Bradley and Jacob Robinson singled back-to-back and were both driven in when Brandon Howard launched a double into the right-center gap. Williams cruised through the 1st and gave up an un-earned run in the 2nd while adding 2 strikeouts, but was forced to leave the game after the 2nd due to elbow pain in his throwing arm. The Redlegs added to their lead in the 3rd when Bradley led the inning off with a walk and Robinson followed with a single. Benthal followed with an RBI single and Matt Mattice later drove in the 4th run on a ground ball fielder’s choice.
With a 4-1 advantage the Redlegs turned to rookie Josh Smith to hold off the Royals offense. After giving up back to back singles to start the inning and balking in a runner from 3rd, Smith settled down and got a strikeout, and 2 ground balls to get out of the inning. Smith got the job done in the 4th inning too; giving up only 1 hit and an unearned run but that run tied the ballgame at 4-4. The Redlegs were quick to regain the lead in the top of the 5th; Matt Redman started the inning with a single, stole 2nd and advanced to 3rd on an overthrow from the catcher. Jared Bradley got the run in with a groundball to the right side giving the Redlegs a 5-4 advantage.
Matt Redman then took over on the hill for the Redlegs making his debut on the hill in 2012. After a leadoff single, Redman was greeted by Chris Jergens who launched a 2 run homerun to give the Royals the lead. The Royals were able to push another run across later in the inning making the score 7-5 in favor of the Royals. But the Redlegs offense got rolling again in the top of the 6th as they batted around and scored 5 more runs. Matt Mattice led the inning off with a single and was promptly driven in on a double by Jack Millard. Bobby Dempsey and Greg Lebouef then singled consecutively to load the bases. A passed ball yielded another run but then a fly out and groundout put 2 outs on the Redlegs with 2 runners in scoring position. Bradley then worked a walk to load the bases. With the game tied at 7, Royals skipper Mark Franklin decided to go to the bull pen to get out of the jam. Robinson and Howard were then hit by pitches consecutively to bring home the go ahead run and another for cushion.
With the 2 run lead Redman went back to work and settled in quickly, allowing only 2 hits over the final 2 frames to pick up his first career victory.
Boxscore
| M Redman | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| J Bradley | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| J Robinson | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| B Howard | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| S Benthal | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M Mattice | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| J Millard | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| B Dempsey | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| G Lebouef | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| E Williams | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2B: Howard; Millard
| E Williams | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| J Smith | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| M Redman (W) | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 |