After a quiet offensive night last week the Rockies offense wasted no time in making sure that wasn’t the case again on Monday night. After an infield single by leadoff hitter Mike Goldade, Rockies shortstop Luke Carmichael blasted a two-run homer, his first of the year, to center field off Diamondbacks starter Alex Regan. He would add on with a double in the fifth scoring Goldade again and registering this third RBI on the day while scoring two runs himself.

The two runs in the first inning would ultimately be all the Rockies needed thanks to an outstanding performance by starting pitcher Andrew Grieder (1-0) who spun a gem of a complete game and stymied the Diamondbacks offense to the tune of one run on only five hits with eight strikeouts. The pitching and defense thus far is proving to be a strength of the Rockies, as they currently lead the league in run differential at +11.

Another big win over their divisional opponent has the Rockies sitting in first place in the South Division at 3-1 and has them in the driver’s seat moving forward in terms of the Sunburst playoff picture. The Rockies now quickly turn their attention to their other South Division rival the Red Deer Riggers as they kick off an equally important five game series with them tonight in Red Deer at Great Chief Park, first pitch scheduled for 7:30pm!

The Rockies suffered their first loss of the season Friday night in a pitcher’s duel between lefty starters Curtis Smith (1-1) and Tyrell King (1-1). This was the second time in three games that the two pitchers faced each other and King proved to be the better arm in Round 2 as he threw a complete game shutout allowing only three hits and striking out six. Smith navigated far more traffic with seven hits and three walks on the day, but it was a 6th inning mistake to Diamondbacks slugger Andrew Malone that proved to be the difference in this one. Malone’s solo shot was his league leading second home run on the year, both of which have come off of Smith.

Despite the loss on the mound, Smith earned the Player of the Game nod with the thirteen strikeout complete game effort against a tough Diamondbacks lineup. Although the bats were quiet overall, Luke Carmichael, Travis Gaudet, and Robbie Holmes continued their strong starts to the season at the plate by collecting the hits for the Rockies in the contest.

The Rockies and Diamondbacks continue their season series with Game 4 scheduled for next Monday May 29th at 6:30pm at Inland Athletic Park.

The Rockies snagged their second win on Tuesday night in what was a more tightly contested ball game with their cross-town rival Calgary Diamondbacks. Steven Latos (1-0) earned his first win of the season and was dominant for three innings before running into some trouble in the fourth and fifth. He would depart after five innings and allowing only three runs on eight hits and five strikeouts, he didn’t issue a single free pass.

Down by a run, the Rockies offense came alive in the top of the sixth with a huge two-out rally to put Latos in line for the victory. A leadoff single by Robbie Holmes would get the inning started before the next two Rockies would strikeout and hit into a fielder’s choice. Mitch Murphy would then lace a single into left field to put to go-ahead run on base before a key error by Diamondbacks second baseman Brendan Sutherland loaded the bases for Player of the Game Dale Bratz. Bratz was 0-3 with a strikeout on the day up to that point, but refused to let the opportunity to change that narrative pass him by. He struck a single up the middle on a hard ground ball that would score the tying and go-ahead runs easily, but some aggressive baserunning from Rockies centerfielder Mike Goldade saw him score from first on the groundball single as well, pushing the score to 5-3 in the Rockies favour.

That would prove to be the final after Brock Lenhardt and Owen Steele both came in to provide a strong inning of relief each to close it out. The final two innings were punctuated by flashy defense by the Rockies as catcher Luke Wilson gunned down a would be base stealer to end the Diamondbacks threat in the sixth, and Bratz ended the game with a spectacular diving play up the middle at second base.

The season series with the Diamondbacks continues on Friday May 26th when the Rockies host them at their newfound home field at Webber Athletic Park for a 7:30pm start!

After several months of anticipation and one rained-out season opener, the Rockies were finally able to get their feet wet in the Sunburst League, and they didn’t disappoint.

Despite a last minute curveball from the City of Calgary that saw the Rockies booted from their expected home park of Foothills Stadium, the team was still able to put together a home game against the Calgary Diamondbacks at Glen Hansen field, and marked the birth of the franchise on May 19th, 2023 with a 10-3 victory over their South Division opponents.

Curtis Smith (1-0) got the start on the hill for the Rockies and was roughed up early by Diamondback sluggers JP Willner and Andrew Malone who each hit solo shots in the first inning. Smith went on to strike out the other three batters he faced and would settle in to allow only one additional run over the next four innings and leave the game in line for his first career Sunburst League win in the fifth inning.

The Rockies offense, not to be outdone, was alive early as well. Luke Carmichael got his huge day at the plate started by taking advantage of a first inning walk drawn by Dale Bratz and batted him in with the first base knock in Rockies franchise history, a hard line drive to left field, to cut the lead to 2-1.

A big third inning led by base hits from Bratz, Lane Aman, and Travis Gaudet would provide the Rockies a 4-3 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish, and a four run bottom of the fifth would break the game open for the Rockies as they poured on six more base knocks to run the lead up to 8-3. Owen Steele was brought in for relief duties after Smith’s exit and slammed the door with five strikeouts over two scoreless innings while allowing only one baserunner.

Travis Gaudet and Luke Carmichael earned Co-Player of the Game honours as they both paced the offense with three hits each and combined for five RBI’s and five runs scored between them.

The Rockies are back in action on Tuesday May 23rd at Inland Athletic Park for their first road game against the same Diamondbacks as they try to keep their momentum rolling!